


Of Men and Gods

by Jujux



Series: Of Men and Gods [2]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Beyond the Bone Mountains, Dragons, Essos, F/M, Fluff and Gore, Further East, Green Essence, High Fantasy, Jon Snow Knows Something, Ned Stark Lives, R Plus L Equals J, R'hllor - Lord of Light, Swords & Sorcery, The Old Gods (ASoIaF), Warg Arya Stark, Warg Jon Snow, Wars, no Rickon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-08-09
Packaged: 2020-03-26 08:12:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 35,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19001851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jujux/pseuds/Jujux
Summary: The magic is back in the world and terrible things come with it.Wars as old as time: Old versus New, Light fighting Darkness, Ice against Fire.And the realm of men trying to survive in the middle of it all.-----------------------------------------------------------------REPOST/REWRITE





	1. No rainbows nor sunshine

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, some of you know, some don't - this is a repost. I will be adding things here and there, even some new characters and POVs, but it will stay mostly the same. So, those of you who did not enjoy this story the first time, it's unlikely that you will do so now. 
> 
> This is the first of 3 books and it's mainly based in Essos, beyond the Bone Mountains. 
> 
> Please be advised that this is a heavy fantasy fic, with much magic and with many creatures and powers involved. 
> 
> I've decided to repost it in more and shorter chapters than the first time because it's much easier to edit and there is a lot of subtle information that people often failed to pick up the first time due to the very long chapters. I will be posting a chapter every week or two weeks and I hope to have this arc finished when I catch up.
> 
> #### IN THIS UNIVERSE DANY AND VISERYS WERE ON THE RUN FOR A FEW MORE YEARS UNTIL ILLYRIO FOUND THEM. THAT'S WHY THE ESSOS EVENTS ARE DELAYED.

 

## 

BOOK ONE: BOOK OF ESSENCE

 

#### 

THE INVISIBLE WOLF - CASTLE BLACK

 

It was just another useless day at Castle Black, cold and colorless - just like his cursed life. It was a fate worse than death, to know that because of him all his family was dead and he was stuck in this useless place.

He deserved it, the Old Gods take him, he deserved it all! It all happened because of him, because he decided to leave Winterfell and go South even if everybody knew that wolves didn't do well below The Neck.

Actually, it all started 20 years ago, when he insisted on his beautiful and wild sister to wed his great friend Robert.

When he was younger he was always the child that nobody paid any attention to, the Invisible Wolf they called him. Brandon was the heir, everybody loved him, the wolf blood was strong in him, wild and living his life at its fullest, but never making time for him.

Lyanna was the jewel of Winterfell, wild and untamed, always doing what she thought was best, practicing swordplay with Brandon and Benjen, riding through the Wolfswood; once they even caught her joining one of his father’s hunts in disguise.

There was also Benjen, with one year between them, he and Lya were thick as thieves. It was as if they were twins, they were always getting into some mischief or another. Once their mother almost had a heart attack when she caught them climbing the Broken Tower. Little Lyanna looked confused at her mother’s scolding, she casually told Lady Lyarra that they were playing “Spiders”, and everybody knew that spiders never fell.

And then there was him, he had nothing special - he didn’t have Brandon’s love for life or Lya and Benjen’s sense of adventure. He was just plain old Ned, an old child, always brooding, rarely talking, too shy to say anything. At some point, people just started ignoring him. It’s like he became part of Winterfell’s furniture, they just forgot he was there. The Invisible Wolf indeed.

Then his father decided to foster him at the Vale, under Jon Arryn, the Warden of the East himself and everything changed. He met Robert Baratheon, heir to the Stormlands. A cheery fellow, in many ways he reminded him of his brother Brandon - a man that liked to live his life. A man who, for some reason, considered Ned his best friend. Under Robert’s wing, the Invisible Wolf was suddenly in the heart of every party, everybody loved Robert and his cheerful disposition and by extension they loved him. He even developed a less gloomy personality. Ned finally got the attention that he hadn't realized he was wanting.

Of course, now that his head was finally out of his arse, he realized that people didn’t truly care about him, a second son from the gloomy North, they just acted friendly towards him to get into Robert’s good graces - the Stormlands heir and the King’s cousin.

He was a stupid child, who grew up to be an even more stupid man.

When his father came to visit Lord Arryn and brought Lyanna with him, Robert, like every man with two working eyes quickly fell in love with her.

Then the idea struck him: what would be better than his best friend marrying his sister? He and Robert would be true brothers then. When he told his father, Lord Rickard quickly agreed, although Starks rarely married outside the North. And quickly after that, he announced Brandon’s betrothal to Catelyn. He hasn't realized it then, as he was too happy that Robert would be his brother, but now it was easy to see that his father, Hoster Tully and Lord Arryn were preparing for a rebellion. And they brought Lya to the Vale, to throw her in Robert’s path to also get the Stormlands on their side.

If he was a different man, he would have probably admired their plan. With these moves, they managed to tie four of the seven kingdoms together.

And then there were the Westerlands, everybody knew Tywin’s hatred towards the Mad King after he took away his heir and he rejected his daughter for Queen. So they could count on Tywin at least staying away from the fighting, if not joining them.

Of course, young stupid Ned was very happy with this, his sister marrying his best friend and being the lady of the Stormlands even after Lyanna told him repeatedly that she didn’t want to marry Robert, who was, even back then, well known for his carousing and whoring. But he assured her that she would come to love him, after all, how could anybody not love Robert?

And then it all went to shit.

Lyanna being Lyanna and seeing that nobody listened to her, decided to take her fate in her own hands and ran away. Everybody thought that she was kidnapped, they were all enraged! He couldn’t even remember who started the rape and kidnapping rumors: maybe it was his father, ashamed by his daughter's disappearance, maybe it was Robert, angry at her rejection. Benjen repeatedly tried telling everyone that Lya was not a woman to be taken against her will by any man, Crown Prince or not, but the hot head that was Brandon quickly rode to King’s Landing to demand justice against Rhaegar, sealing his and Lord Rickard’s fate.

After that it was out of their hands and the rebellion happened. Almost a year of constant fighting, tens of thousands of lives lost. And for what, to swap a mad King for a useless one?

The war ended with Brandon and his father dead, but he still had hopes of finding Lyanna. Lord Varys told him she might be in Dorne, at the Tower of Joy. With Robert hurt in the war and their friendship hanging on a thin thread after the murder of Princess Elia and her children, he decided to go alone with his men to find his sister and take her home. And Ned promised himself never to see the cursed South again.

When he got to the Tower, it was all burned down, he still remembered the huge relief he felt when there were no bodies in the ruins.

But his world came crashing down when he got to Winterfell after a few moons and found Lya’s body waiting for him.

It truly broke him, he spent the first week in the crypts in front of her tomb, the only thing that came out of his mouth was “I’m sorry” over and over, poor Catelyn probably thought she married a madman. Eventually, his beloved Cat managed to bring him back by bringing Robb to the crypts and showing him that he still had reasons to live.

His little brother took it even worse, he stopped talking altogether. A couple of moons after that he went missing one morning, and all they found was one letter saying that he would join the Night Watch.

They questioned the men that brought Lya’s body back, of course, and all they got was that they were paid handsomely by some men to bring her to Winterfell. The man that paid them said it was her wish to be buried in the crypts with her family. She was the only woman to be buried there.

After that he went back to being the Invisible Wolf, but since he was a Lord now, people couldn’t call him that anymore, so they started calling him the Quiet Wolf.

And did he keep his promise never to go South? Of course not! And now his family was all dead or worse and he was stuck in this God-forsaken place! The Old Gods didn’t even find him worthy to grant him a good death so he could finally rest in peace.

 

Castle Black was a particular place, nothing like he imagined before he came here. He used to think it was a proud castle, one that could resist any siege from the other side of the Wall, filled with people with one purpose in mind - to protect the realm.

But the truth was that it was a crumbling castle, old and soulless, just like the people that inhabited it. It was a place that sucked all the joy and light out of your life. In a way, when you had to choose between death and the Night Watch, you didn’t know it then, but you chose between the death of your body and the death of your soul. He knew what he would choose now if he had another chance.

The only solace he could find in this place were his talks with Maester Aemon. The master was a fountain of knowledge and good advice. He tried to make time almost every evening, after his duties were done, to read to him from the rich Castle Black library. The irony didn’t escape him, a Targaryen and a Stark stuck together in a crumbling castle at the end of the world. It was more likely to be some tasteless mummer’s play than their current reality, but here they were.

 

The sound of a horn shook him out of his usual musings. Grenn, one of the guys there who seemed to see himself as his personal steward, let him know that a supply caravan was there. It was weird, after Old Bear’s Mormont death, everybody seemed to have some kind of a silent agreement that he was their leader - everybody except him. But he couldn’t turn them down since he was the most suited for the position, so, until the next elections, he found himself stuck in the unofficial position of Lord of Castle Black.

Grenn told him that the Old Bear used to send letters to the Lords all over the Seven Kingdoms for aid when the provisions were low, but not many responded. He remembered these letters well, and the Starks historically always donated to The Watch, since they founded it, but now he sent here, wasn’t nearly enough, especially since the other Lords were reluctant to send supplies. ned’s been here for almost six moons and he hasn’t sent any letters and he doubted any of the men did, so who could be sending provisions? Since the Boltons were now Wardens of the North, was it them? It could no one else. A feeling of shame washed over him, even the backstabbing Boltons showed more compassion to these men than he did.

But as the main gate opened, it wasn’t a Bolton man the came in ahead of the caravan. This man was unlike any other man he ever saw, a little man, maybe a little over five feet tall, with small eyes, furled in so many furs that he looked round. And on his head, he wore a funny looking fur hat with what appeared to be a tail on its back.

Even in his confusion he couldn’t help noticing the mood in the castle was considerably lighter and it looked as if everyone bar blind Master Aeomon was in the yard. Did they knew this man?

In a high pitched voice with a light eastern accent the man said: “I see you bastards are still as lazy as ever!”

“Fuck off, Wheng!” he heard Ser Alliser shout from the back, with something that he was sure was an attempt of a smile on his face but ended being more of a grimace. The man was not made for smiles, it was a horrific sight. Maybe when the Others would attack, they could put Thorne in front of The Wall and make him laugh. If one of his smiles looked like that, a full laugh would send the wights running away for another 8000 years at least.

Their guest seemed to have also noticed this so-called smile. “Is that a smile on your face, Ser Alliser, or is my mind playing tricks on me from all this cursed cold? Don’t play games with me, Ser, if I tell the King that I saw you smile, he might have my head for lying!” A wave of laughter filled the yard.

“How is the King?” Allister asked. King? What king? Did the Lannisters send this man? He doubted that was the case, with Thorne’s well know hatred for them.

“He’s fine, Ser! Come, help us unload all this, my men are frozen!” Looking behind Wheng, Ned saw that there were around 50 men and around 10 carts in the yard now, all men clad in furs, just like their leader. They must be guarding the convoy because all of them wore swords and spears. The front cart had a few barrels on it and the others were filled with what it looked to be sacks of flour.

Whatever it was, it was more than welcome. Whoever the fuck this King was, he had his gratitude! 

“You know, I sailed the Shivering Sea to the Lands of Ice once, and it wasn’t half as cold and this fucking place. Where is Lord Mormont?” Wheng asked.

Grenn answered before anybody else could: “He died, Lord Stark is in charge now.” The little man looked confused so he stepped forward. He wasn’t officially in charge, but there was no point denying it, somebody had to take responsibility.

“I am sorry to hear about the Old Bear, he was a great man. It’s nice to meet you, Lord Stark, I don’t remember seeing you here before,” the man said, offering his hand.

“I joined only 6 moons back.”

“What about Master Aemon, is he well, Lord Stark? I am here with supplies for the Watch from my King, who is the good Master’s nephew.” Viserys? Well, the man in front of him finally made sense, he was some kind of Essosi native. But why would Viserys send supplies to the Watch? The rumors in King’s Landing was that Viserys was as mad as his father, or was that just a rouse? Did Varys and the other spies only said it to make Robert angrier, or to force him to send assassins?

Surely a madman wouldn’t bother sending provisions to the end of the world? He would have to talk with Aemon about it later.

“Hey, Wheng, what’s in those barrels?” one of the men shouted from the top of the stairs.

“You know, some of that orange sweet wine Maester Aemon likes so much...” The disappointment in the yard was great. What did these guys expect? Arbor fucking Gold? He could barely stop himself from rolling his eyes.

The man they called Wheng couldn’t stop his laugh, though. “Ah, I forgot to say that that’s only one barrel, the other three are filled with fire-water, to get some heat in those miserable bones of yours”.

The men’s cheer was ridiculous, he hasn’t heard such a loud cheer since they won the rebellion. Fire-water - he remembered Robert receiving a small barrel as a gift from Braavos once, he was drunk for a whole week. He didn’t want to share a single drop with anybody, that was some expensive drink, Viserys must have been very rich to afford such a gift. This only confused him more, in King’s Landing they used to call him the Beggar King. _Beggar my arse!_

“My king only asks for one thing. Don’t drink it on top of the wall, he said that it’s impossible to find a man as lazy as you bastards from Castle Black to Asshai, to replace you if you fall.”

As expected, all he got in response was a choir of groans and “Fuck off, Wheng!”.

“Lord Stark, I would appreciate some warm rooms for me and my men, we are going to rest today and leave tomorrow at first light.”

“Of course! Grenn, find these men some rooms!” Grenn was only too happy to comply.

 

* * *

 

#### 

THE DRAGON - PENTOS

 

Daenerys loved mornings. Sitting there, on her soft fluffy bed with the Pentos rays of sunshine making their way gently through her large window, it was one of the few times in her life she actually felt like a Princess. She and her brother have been here for almost a year now and this was the most content she's been since their house with the red door in Braavos.

But, like every day, her reality slowly crept over her. She was to be married in less than two weeks to Khal Drogo, some horse lord that would give her brother Viserys an army in return, to help him win back his throne in Westeros.

Viserys. She still couldn't figure out what happened to him. From the sweet brother who used to bring her favorite strawberry cakes every time he went to the market when they lived in Braavos, the brother that didn't eat for days when they were on the run, because there wasn't enough food for both of them and he didn't want her to be hungry, to this unstable man who complains about everything, acted like he's owned the world and sells his only sister to some savage rapist and pillager.

She didn't know him anymore. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that the old Viserys was long gone, all that was left was this man who could only be described as mad. It seemed only fitting, considering that people always liked to whisper around them that Targaryens always danced a little too close to madness. Whatever that meant.

The only thing Viserys cared about these days was to be King. King in a place from where they ran 17 years ago to save their lives. He wanted it so much that he was sending his only living kin to marry and live among the savages for the rest of her life.

What could she do? She was just a girl, a stupid, short and ugly girl and nobody else would want her, like Viserys always liked to remind her. If she was more beautiful maybe some Lord from Westeros would have wanted her and she could go home and didn’t have to marry that Dothraki Khal.

But, at the end of the day Viserys was her King and if he decided she would go to the horse lord, there was nothing she could do but obey. She tried to beg him not to send her away, but the only thing she got in return was a swollen lip, so she learned to keep her thoughts to herself. The last thing Dany wanted was to wake the Dragon in her brother.

With a sigh she went out on her balcony for a little more peace and quiet before the usual breakfast with her brother and Illyrio, where no doubt she'd have a sore neck from nodding to all of her brother's stories and claims. The same old stories of what he would do once he was King and how he would punish the Usurper and his dogs...

He seemed to be more unstable every day and it's gotten much worse since a big army and a fleet appeared outside of Pentos a few days ago. Everybody was talking about it, from the richest Magister to the last scullery maid.

Everyone in the manse was on the edge. Dany didn't know much about war, but even she knew that they could easily sack the city. Myr was sacked a few moons back by sellswords and Pentos didn't even have an army, the only protection they had were the Unsullied and the sellswords hired by the Magisters for personal protection. And they would be no match for a full-scale army.

Daenerys was not unused to violence, for many years she and her brother were running from the Usurper’s assassins, hiding in shady places, it was inevitable to come across some violence, but a war, that wasn't something she cared to see. Dany heard that when cities were sacked, women are either raped or sold into slavery. Compared to that, even living among the Dothraki, eating horse meat and drinking fermented horse milk for the rest of her life looked like a better option. Although not by much, if she was being honest.

She has been trying lately to find any good things about her future marriage and the only thing she could think of was that she would get away from Viserys. But was it truly an improvement to belong to a savage horse lord than to belong to Viserys? She didn’t know, although both options made the bile in her throat rise.

Sitting on her balcony she saw Illirio enjoying the morning in the multicolored flower garden beneath her. He was a weird one, the Magister, for almost a year he didn't get involved between her and her brother, every time he hit her he just looked the other way. The cheesemonger always pretended nothing was wrong when she had a black eye or a split lip.

But in the last few days, he always stepped in when he saw Viserys' temper flaring and whenever he wasn't around there would always be one of his guards around her, ready to intervene. Most likely he just didn't want to send her to the Dothraki with a black eye. She must not appear weak in front of the Dothraki, because it’s unlikely that such savage would want a weak wife.

 

As she was considering all this, a large sweaty man, almost as fat as Illyrio, entered the garden. He was dressed in bright silks and had a long yellow oiled beard. Daenerys recognized him as one of the guests that sometimes came for dinner, the Prince of Pentos himself.

She leaned in to hear better.

"I met him today, he will be coming soon,” the Prince said, wiping the perspiration off his brow with a bright red handkerchief. "You know what he wants.”

"Did he make any threats?” Illyrio asked in a wary tone.

The Prince looked uneasy: "No, but he made it clear that he will take her, no matter what. I was also strongly advised not to help and to discourage any plan you might have to smuggle her out of the city, his army is checking every one leaving, so that would be fruitless in any case. I don't care about your business, but you need to give her up. I don't want to see this city burned to the ground and I certainly don't want to have my throat slit to appease the Gods. I assume she is still here?”

"Yes,” Illyrio answered with a sigh.

"And she is unharmed? Because I am certain that he wouldn't take it lightly if she was hurt in any way?” the Prince sounded uneasy, almost scared.

"You're the one to talk, didn't you want her as your Maid of the Seas this year?” she could hear Illyrio’s annoyance in his voice.

"Yes, and thank the Gods I didn’t have her! I hope - for your own good - that she is unharmed?” The Prince asked, pressing his red handkerchief on his forehead, in an attempt to keep the perspiration from falling in his eyes. Daenerys never saw a man sweat so much in her life.

"Of course she is unharmed, I watched over her...”

A maid came at that moment and told her they were ready to break their fast, so she couldn't listen anymore. Dany wondered who this woman was? She must have been quite a woman if someone was prepared to sack a city for her.

Some time back, she dreamed of handsome Knights and Princes coming and taking her away to their castle, saving her from Viserys, but those were stupid girly dreams that only happened in those books she liked to sneak in her room and read when she was alone. 

Daenerys learned the hard way that real life was not rainbows and sunshine.


	2. Let them see us

 

#### 

THE INVISIBLE WOLF - CASTLE BLACK

 

Ned didn’t have time to talk with the Essosi or with Maester Aemon as he was on watch duty on top of the Wall, but at least he had time to think.

Not for the first time he realized that he knew nothing, he lived in a world of his own making that had nothing in common with the real world and it all came down on him. He supposed he should not be surprised that things were not how he thought, Viserys, a man that Westeros knew as the Beggar King and as mad as his father did more for the Watch than the whole Seven Kingdoms combined and he was over the fucking Narrow Sea.

And a Beggar King? He couldn’t help releasing a snort, no Beggar King could afford to send all those supplies. Rice and coals, even strong drink so that the Black Brothers could warm themselves. The evening meal was the best he had in some time, boiled rice with some beans called soy that tasted like meat. And some fire-water to wash it down and warm his frozen bones. That was a meal worthy of a Lord, not a brother of the Watch.

Would Viserys be a good King? Surely he couldn’t be worse than whatever Lannister sat on the Iron Throne now. And the Targaryen certainly had more claim than some Lannister bastard.

He finally finished his duties and had time to get some more information. Unfortunately, the Essosi traders were already gone by then, so he made his way to the Maester’s tower.

He found Maester Aemon in a cheery disposition, sipping some of that orange wine he apparently liked so much.

“I see you’re enjoying some of that sweet wine your nephew sent you, good Maester!”

Aemon didn’t seem surprised to hear him come in. “Ah, Lord Stark, I was wondering when you will come. I have to say that I do enjoy this wine. We old people are nothing more than children with wrinkled skin and bad knees, the older we get, the more we enjoy the little pleasures of life. I’m lucky to still have someone out there who cares about me enough to sent me these little treats. What can I do for you, my Lord?”

Ned didn’t know how to start this conversation, how could he tell this man, who obviously loved his nephew, that he sat there in Robert’s council, listened to them plan on killing him and his sister and he didn’t do anything about it?

He decided to start safely: “So, judging by the reaction of the Black Brothers, this isn’t the first food shipment your nephew sent?”

For some reason, the Maester frowned at his question. “My nephew… yes. He visited here a few years back and since then every year or so, we get one of these shipments,” he answered in an awed voice.

He couldn’t hide the surprise from his voice. “He visited Castle Black?” That was quite a risk to take with an army of assassins on his trail. It was quite funny in a way, Robert searching for them all over Essos and they were here, under his nose.

Aemon couldn’t stop a yellow-toothed smile. “If you are shocked, imagine my surprise. To tell you the truth, Lord Stark, I was ready to go, I was approaching my hundredth name day, I thought my family was all gone!” A well-known feeling of deep shame washed over him like every time he thought of the Targaryens, he could only think of the pleased face Robert made when Tywin presented the bodies of the royal children in front of the court. “And then this troubled boy comes and tells me he’s my nephew and that he came from the end of the world just to meet me.

“I just couldn’t speak for Gods know how long, then I started crying, the poor boy probably thought that he crossed the world for a mute and blind old fool!” A chuckle escaped the Maester’s lips.

“I made a decision then, I would help him in every way I can. Three times I had my duty questioned and all three times I decided to keep my vows and last time it nearly killed me, I thought my whole family was gone and I was the last Targaryen left. I was sure the Gods were just taking their revenge over the centuries we ignored them. All Targaryens dead except me - the most useless of all.

"But now I was given another chance and I’m not going to waste it, no matter what it will cost me,” he stopped to take a breath. “And by the time I have spent with him, I am certain that our nephew will be a great King!” that yellow-toothed smile was back on his face.

Judging by all this new information he had, the old Maester could be right. “You know, Maester Aemon, in King’s Landing they call him the Beggar King and they say he is mad like his father.”

A look of confusion washed over the old man’s face. “Beggar King?”

“Yes, they say he and his sister were hiding in the Free Cities, begging for food.” 

“His sister?” Aemon still looked confused.

“Yes, Princess Daenerys. Was she here too?” now it was his turn to be confused, but understanding seemed to settle on the old man’s features.

The old Maester's face brightened. “Oh, I am pleased to hear that they are still alive, but the supplies came from our mutual nephew.”

Ned's heart must have stopped for sure.

“What?”

“Jaehaerys, your sister’s son,” Aemon said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“What?” Surely he heard it wrong, or maybe all Targaryens were indeed mad.

“You’re starting to sound like Lord Mormont’s crow Lord Stark, if you keep this up you’ll be asking for corn soon. Jaehaerys Targaryen, the son of Lady Lyanna and Prince Rhaegar.” With a frown, he continued: ”Well, I suppose she was a Princess at the end, or maybe even a Queen.”

“What?” He just couldn’t say anything else, thank the Old Gods for the chair near him, because his legs couldn’t hold him anymore. Lya had a son? Jaehaerys Targaryen, Queen at the end? They were married.

He must have said it out loud because now Aemon looked really confused. “You didn’t know?” He could only shake his head, which was not very useful, considering’s Aemon’s condition, be he couldn’t find his voice.

The old man seemed to understand anyway: “The supplies came from King Jaehaerys, the son of Rheagar and his second wife Lyanna.”

He couldn’t stop his tears: “So, my father and brother died over a misunderstanding, Benjen told us and we didn’t listen, he told us that nobody could take her against her will...”

"You know that things are never that simple, Lord Stark. Let me tell you about our nephew instead. He was a troubled boy and came all the way from the end of the world for some advice..." Ned spent the rest of the day with Aemon, trying to absorb every information he had about his newfound nephew who might as well be the last of his family. Jaehaerys was raised in Essos by Ser Arthur Dayne himself and that the boy looked very much like his father, only with the typical Stark long face and Lya’s dark brown hair.

He learned that Jeor Mormont himself gave him his ancestral family sword Longclaw after he saved his life, if he had any misgivings over his character, that would have erased every one of them, Jeor was one of the most honorable men he ever met, he would never give his sword to someone unworthy.

A pang of jealousy rushed through him, it should have been him the one who gave him Ice, to carry on his ancestors’ legacy. With both of his sons dead, what could be better than Lya’s son wielding Ice? But, like everything dear to him, Ice was lost too.

He also learned other things he had difficulties to believe, but if they were true or not, it didn’t matter for him, his course was set.

That night, when he got back to his chambers, he promised himself that he would do anything in his power to help Jaehaerys, not only for his sister but for himself too. He’d rather die a hundred times, break a thousand vows and shit on his honor in front of the whole world, then let his family down again!

 

* * *

 

#### THE DRAGON - PENTOS

 

After the maid helped her with the preparations, Dany went out in the courtyard to meet Illyrio and her brother for breakfast.

The place where they had breakfast every day was her favorite place in the estate. It had a massive white marble table, surrounded by tall poplar trees that sheltered it from the famous Pentos salty sea winds. The trees also offered shade at any time of the day, protecting the people sitting at the table from the hot Pentos sun. Although it didn’t seem to help the fat Magister that much, he was still sweating like a boar in the heat all the time.

She never saw trees so tall, Illyrio told her brother once that he brought them from Westeros. They easily reached 50 feet in height. Illyrio’s servants gave these trees sweet water a few times per day. The trees were Illiryo's pride and joy, he told everyone who listened how he was the only one to have these kinds of trees in the Free Cities. Dany didn’t know much about trees, but even she couldn’t help noticing how great they looked and how they inspired awe and envy in every guest Illyrio brought into this courtyard.

The other thing Illyrio was proud of was his Rainbow Diamond that he always wore around his neck. These rocks were extremely rare and expensive and became a symbol of prosperity around Essos. Only the richest of the rich could afford them. They had the ability to capture the sunlight in a unique way, making them sparkle like nothing Daenerys has seen before, it was like having your own personal star around your neck. Dany was sure she has never seen anything so wonderful.

Illyrio had a red one, the size of a raven egg. She heard that they came in many colors, that’s why they were named Rainbow Diamonds. It is said they were mined in the Further East, in the lands of Lizard People, and that a hundred men lost their lives every day protecting the miners from their attacks.

When in his cups, Viserys liked to tell everyone that when he would get his throne back, he would only buy Rainbow Diamonds that were larger than a fist. 

 

As expected, only the Magister was seated at the table when she got there, her brother was always late. Viserys often told her that Kings always needed to make an entrance, to allow their subjects to admire them. Dany thought that was disrespectful to their host, but Illyrio appeared to bore it well enough, although judging by his size, the Magister wasn’t a man that enjoyed waiting for his food more than was necessary. 

After a few more minutes of awkward silence, her brother finally showed up, sporting a huge grin on his face. _That can’t be good_ , she thought. A feeling of dread washed over her, did the Dothraki come sooner than expected? Was her brother happy that he was finally getting his army?

Viserys’ shrill voice snapped her out of her musings: “I just heard the most wonderful news!” At Illiryo’s confused look he continued: “It appears that this army camped outside the city is sporting the tree headed dragon banners, Targaryen banners!” She was shocked to hear it. What did it mean?

Viserys appeared to be reading her mind, or maybe she just said it out loud: “It means, of course, that they came to swear allegiance to their true King!”

Could it be true? Did someone truly raise an army to help them take back their throne? A small glimmer of hope crept into her hart, if they had an army, maybe she didn’t have to marry Khal Drogo anymore!

Her hopes were quickly crushed by her brother: “With this army and the army of savages my sweet sister will get for me, I will have the strongest force in Essos!” he looked more pleased than Dany has ever seen him. It almost sounded too good to be true.

Then she remembered the conversation she overheard before coming to breakfast, that didn’t sound like they came to help Viserys, they were looking for some girl. Looking at the Magister face and pinched lips, it was clear that he knew more than he led on.

But why did they have Targaryen banners? Maybe there were some old Valyrian houses in Essos with similar banners and her brother mistook them for their house’s banners.

“After we finish eating I shall go to them and accept their fealty!”

Illyrio didn’t seem pleased. “Perhaps it’s better to wait for them to come to you. If you are their King, let them come to you, as all vassals should.”

Viserys seemed pleased with this. “Of course, of course, I am their King after all. Let them come!”

Just then one of the servants appeared from behind the trees, looking out of breath: “Magister, the guests you expected are here.”

“How many are there?” the cheesemonger asked.

“Five of them came in, but they have a large host at the gates, I would say around two hundred men.”

An uneasiness settled over Illyrio’s features, Dany could swear that his usual fat red cheeks turned white. “Of course, of course, bring them here,” he ordered on a shaky voice.

 

These guests were a weird lot to be sure, there was one Unsullied, dressed in a black leather armor with the Targaryen seal, another one was the tallest man Dany has ever seen, he looked like a Dothraki, but had small golden eyes, he wore an armor similar to the Unsullied soldier and had a butterfly-shaped axe with black blades strapped on his back. Fear consumed her, were all Dothrakis like this? Was her future husband like this man?

Then there was a woman, who looked around 40 name days, tall and slender, still very beautiful, with olive skin, dark hair and dark eyes. Maybe from Myr or Dorne, she guessed.

There were two more men with them. One with long blond hair and purple eyes, he wore a light steel armor engraved with the Targaryen seal and a white cloak. He had a greatsword with a big ruby pommel strapped on his back.

The last man was probably the most beautiful man Dany has ever seen. Gracious and lean, he had a stern looking long face that gave nothing away, dark shoulder length hair and dark eyes, he was dressed all in black, except a dark crimson cloak that was fixed with two pins: a white one that looked like a wolf, and white gold dragon pin. He had a long sword at his hip with a very unusual pommel. A pommel that had a white wolf head with red eyes opposite to a dragon with blue eyes.

But the thing that attracted Dany’s eyes to him the most was the way he conducted himself, he walked with purpose and with a quiet confidence that one couldn’t help but admire. _That’s how a King should look like,_ she couldn’t help thinking. Her brother looked pathetic compared to this man. Dany quickly chided herself for her thoughts, her brother might not be her favorite person these days, but he was still her King.

Still, she couldn’t take her eyes off the young man and after the man looked carefully around and took everything in, bored his dark eyes into hers, making her flush from head to toe. Luckily a choir of screams pulled her back to earth before her thoughts sunk into an even more dangerous territory.

From behind the trees, a silent white wolf with red eyes made his appearance. He was the size of a horse, no wonder that the people in the mansion were scared shitless. The beast paid them no mind and just strode gracefully towards the large table, its stark white fur and red eyes that shone like rubies made him quite a sight. Dany knew she should have been terrified, especially since the beast seemed to be looking straight at her, but the only thing she felt was awe. It was the most beautiful animal she has ever seen. How could something look so beautiful and so terrifying at the same time? It was just unnatural!

The beast strode silently to them and settled down at the feet of the leader, who after helping the lady with her chair, took a seat at their table. Dany must have missed Illyrio asking them to take a seat while watching the wolf. She should pay more attention; and she must also stop staring at the dark haired man before her brother noticed, the last thing she needed was to wake the dragon or to be sent to her rooms. She found herself having an unnatural curiosity to know these people. _Especially their leader_ , she heard a small voice in her head, but she ignored it.

They all looked at their leader, but he seemed only focused on her. After some uncomfortable silent moments and when it was obvious that the dark haired man won’t say anything, the lady of the group decided to start talking, looking straight at her: “Princess Daenerys, Prince Viserys,” her brother scowled at the title but said nothing, he was probably just as curious as her, “Magister Illyrio, my name is Lady Carmella Whent of Myr, my companions are:” she pointed towards the huge Dothraki: “Leg of Leng Ma,” her eyes went to the Unsullied: “Commander Greyworm,” then pointing to the Knight with the white cloak: “this is Ser Arthur Dayne.” Each of them gave her a polite nod but paid no attention to her brother, she could see the dragon started to wake.

 _The Sword of the Morning? That couldn’t be true, could it?_ Everybody thought he was dead. Maybe it was true, maybe this army truly came to swear allegiance to Viserys. 

Her brother must have had the same thoughts because he didn’t even wait for the last member of the party to be introduced. “Arthur, it’s good to see you again!”

He got a polite nod in return: “My Prince.” 

“That’s 'My King', Ser, but I forgive you for now since you brought me an army.” Ser Arthur’s showed no emotion whatsoever, similar to the faces of the Unsullied Commander and the dark-haired man - who didn't even seem to acknowledge Viserys' existence.

“We’re here for Princess Daenerys, My Prince,” the Knight said calmly. _For her, what did he mean for her?_

Viserys looked confused for a second, then his vision cleared up. “Ah, I see, you want her for the army,” he gave a shallow laugh. “Unfortunately, I already sold her to the Dothraki, but when they are done with her you can have her too!” Fear shot through her, she dared to look at the leader, the man finally looked at her brother and the anger on his face was unmistakable.

“Viserys, I can’t...” she whimpered. 

Her brother caught her upper hand harshly: “Shut up, slut, you will do as you King commands! You will fuck all of those men camped outside the city if it means I will have my army!”

Before anyone else could react, the white wolf rose from under the table with unnatural speed and positioned himself straight in front of her brother, barring his long fangs at him. Since they were sitting down, the wolf was taller than them and if she thought that the beast was scary before, now, seeing it angry, it looked like it came straight from the Seven Hells. Viserys instantly let her hand go, turning all possible colors until his face settled on white. And judging by the smell, he also soiled his breeches.

She couldn’t blame him, though, the beast was terrifying. The dark-haired man looked at Viserys and said in a steady deep voice - so cold that it could have made Viserys wet himself if he didn’t already: “If you ever touch the Princess against her will again, my friend Ghost here,” he pointed towards the wolf, who gave a silent snarl in acceptance, “is going to rip your hand off. Am I clear?” He looked at Viserys with such intensity, that only thing her brother could do was to nod.

Dany was very confused now, why did he defend her? Usually, she would have been scared of what would happen to her when she would be left alone with Viserys and he would look to punish her, but now she didn’t care. Seeing her brother scared to death and soiling himself Dany realized that he was nothing, just a madman taking advantage of a little sister that couldn’t defend herself. 

Viserys didn’t dare even to look at her again but he couldn’t keep his mouth shut: “Ser Arthur, you are siding with this bastard over your best friend’s brother and your true King? What would Rhaegar say if he was alive?”

At the same time, the white beast, content that Viserys wasn’t a threat anymore, moved over to her side and started sniffing her hair. Illyrio, who was sitting close to her, looked positively sick with fear, she knew that she should be scared too, but the only thing she could feel was wonder.

The wolf seemed to decide that he liked her and gave her a long lick on the face. She couldn’t stop a giggle from coming out and hugged the beast’s massive neck. Everybody looked at her with wide eyes, even the servants, who all seemed to have found some work close to them, no doubt trying to fish for some gossip. When Dany remembered herself, she was afraid she overstepped, but when she looked at the wolf’s master she only saw his cold dark eyes soften and the faintest of smiles appeared on his lips.

 _By all the Gods, his eyes!_ They were not black, they were a dark shade of violet. Indigo. Such unique eyes, only one man was ever known to her to have such eyes, her brother Rhaegar. Could it be?

Just then she heard Ser Arthur speak: “If you didn’t interrupt the introductions, you would find out that I was already serving the King.” He nodded towards their leader: “This is King Jaehaerys III Targaryen, son of Prince Rhaegar and Princess Lyanna.”

Viserys must have opened and closed his mouth ten times at least and she couldn’t blame him, she was also stunned. Could it be true, could she have another family member? She studied him shamelessly while stroking Ghost’s massive head who seemed to have found a home in her lap. He had dark hair and a long face, which must have been from his mother, but his other features, the soft facial features, his straight nose, his pouty lips and those eyes that you could get lost in…

Now everything made sense. The banners of the army, his cloak pins, the dragon pin for his father and the wolf pin for his mother, his beast, which now she was certain it was a Direwolf, which it was a wonder itself, she read that they were extinct even longer than Dragons. She was so happy, she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry!

Viserys seemed to finally snap out of his daze: “Is this some kind of joke?”

Arthur answered “Indeed not, I was there when Prince Rhaegar married Lady Lyanna. I was also there when His Grace was born. There are papers at the Citadel to support all this, the marriage and his naming ceremony.”

“What do you mean you came for me?” she couldn’t help asking. Dany was usually so shy and rarely spoke when in company so that she wouldn’t annoy Viserys, once one of Illyrio’s guests even asked if she was a mute, but now she wanted to know everything. Daenerys didn’t know what it was, maybe finally seeing Viserys for the coward he really was, maybe she got some confidence from the giant wolf resting his head on her lap, maybe the fact that she had another family member to turn to, but she just couldn’t reign in her excitement. Her excitement must have been noticeable, because Jaehaerys, her nephew, gave her such a soft smile that made her dizzy and warm all over. 

“I would like you to come with us, Daenerys. I know we just met and you have no reason to trust me, but I promise you that you would never want for anything and I will never force you to do anything you don’t want to.” He looked so sincere that she couldn’t help trusting him. Maybe she was a bit naive, but she was sure that Jaehaerys would never hurt her like Viserys.

Illyrio seemed to have found his voice after just standing there and trying not to draw attention to himself throughout all this. “My Lo… Your Grace, Princess Daenerys already has a betrothed, he should be here soon.”

The cold anger was back in Jaehaerys’s eyes and the fat Magister was squirming under his glare: “Daenerys will not be marrying that Dothraki. She is a Targaryen Princess, she is made for greatness, not to be a broodmare for some savage horse lord!”

He fixed his indigo eyes on Viserys: “What were you even thinking, trying to sell your only family to a fucking Dothraki? Ser Arthur told me you resembled your father a bit too much when you were little, I was hoping that you grew out of it, but it appears that’s not the case!” the disgust was clear in his voice. _What did he mean by that? Her father was a great King!_

Viserys went red as a beetroot. “Of course I’m like my father, I’m his son!”

“Your father was a madman and was that main reason why there are so few Targaryens left in the world!” Surely that was not true.

Jaehaerys must have seen the confusion on her face and said softly: “He wasn’t called the Mad King for nothing, Daenerys. He was well known for his passion to burn people alive.” A feeling of dread washed over her. “My father was planning to force him to step down before the rebellion broke.”

She was speechless.

Sir Arthur chipped in: “It’s true, Princess, he was planning to speak to the important Lords at the Harrenthal tourney, but King Aerys somehow found out and also attended the tourney to keep an eye on Prince Rhaegar and the others.”

Now she knew why people always talked about madness behind their back.

“Countless lives would have been saved if Ser Barristan wouldn’t have saved my grandfather in Duskendale, I wonder how many lives would be saved if I take both of your lives here?” her nephew looked at her brother and at the Magister, who looked like he was gonna faint.

Maybe Viserys deserved it, but he was still her brother. “Your Grace, he might not be the best of men, but he is my brother and while I might not recognize the person he is now, when I was little he kept me alive, I would have been dead without him. And the Magister took us in when we had nowhere else to go, I don’t know what his plan was, but he kept us safe and fed.”

Jaehaerys gave a short nod and answered evenly: “As you say, Princess Daenerys.” She was sure Illyrio’s release of his held breath could be heard from Braavos.

“What were you thinking anyway, Viserys? Surely you’re not so simple to believe that you could conquer Westeros with an army of raping and pillaging savages? Even the ones who hate the current rulers and might have some love for the Targaryens will band against you if you bring Dothrakis into their lands.” Dread washed over her, her own brother would have sacrificed her for nothing?

Viserys gave a snort and said with a smug look on his face: “When our armies will reach Westeros everybody will tremble in fear and we will destroy everyone who stands in our way!”

_We? Who is we?_

Jaehaerys also picked up on it: “We? So you found yourself an ally…” There was a short moment of silence. ”You allied yourself with Altheea.” It was not a question.

Altheea, who was Altheea? Her astute nephew picked up on her confusion again and explained: “She’s the one who sacked Myr. The Dothraki screamers he hoped to get by selling you were probably a wedding present for her.” Surely that’s not true! But the look on Viserys’ face told her everything she needed to know. The anger consumed her, she felt like her blood was on fire, like something in her blood just woke up. How dare he! Selling her for nothing!

Viserys went into a fit of rage: “Fuck you, bastard! You come here, before your rightful King and pretend to be a Targaryen, with this purple eyed cunt pretending to be The Sword of the Morning...” 

Jaehaerys wasn’t paying any attention to her brother, he just looked straight at her. Her blood was almost boiling now, it was hard to describe what she was feeling, she felt as if something has woken in her blood, she felt... empowered. But she was also starting to feel a little scared, what was happening to her?

“Can you feel him?” he asked. Dany could only nod, now she felt hot too. Daenerys was a little relieved that Jaehaerys was feeling it too, she was not going mad, or at least she wasn’t going mad alone.

“What is it?” she asked, a little out of breath, shocked by her outburst of anger. He just gave her a soft smile and pointed his finger up, without taking his eyes off her. 

And then she saw him. By the Gods! She had to blink a few times to make sure that she wasn’t imagining things, but it was true. Just above the trees, there was a massive red Dragon, flapping his wings lazily, the beast's molten eyes boring into hers. The heat he was radiating was palpable, he was like a flying furnace.

She looked at her brother, surely he felt him too? But no, Viserys was still busy throwing insults at Jaehaerys. The one they called Leg looked like he wanted to throttle him and a part of her hoped he did, after all the things she found out. 

“R’hllor help us!” Viserys’ tirade was stopped by the scream, one of the servants must have noticed the Dragon. Dany couldn’t take her eyes off him and the Dragon was still looking at her, with his big molten eyes, his red scales sparkling in the sunlight like a million rubies glued together, his massive wings were beating slowly, just enough to keep him steady in the air. She could clearly see bright molten veins as thick as her hand on his wings looking like they were filled with fire. This beast was fire made flesh.

Everybody was looking up with their mouths open, gasps and screams were heard all over the estate.

The heat the dragon was giving out was incredible, people were sweating and becoming uncomfortable from both heat and fear, everyone except her and her nephew, who was still looking at her with a pleased look.

Viserys finally found his voice, it sounded screechier than usual: “That’s a Dragon! A flying Dragon. It’s alive!”

She could see her brother's mind working, trying to make sense of it. After some time, Viserys finally realized that the Dragon came with Jaehaerys.

“Bring him here, I am his King, blood of the Dragon! I shall ride him and breath fire over our enemies! Nobody could stand in our way, I will be Aegon the Conqueror come again!”

The Dragon finally took his eyes off her, looked at her brother for a few moments, then huffed some hot hair from his nostrils disgusted and flew away leaving behind the trees' top half scorched by his intense heat. Poor Illyrio looked like he was going to cry, seeing the state of his beloved poplar trees. Dany was struggling to hold her laugh so that she wouldn’t offend their benefactor. 

Leg had no such issues, a loud, boisterous laugh coming from the huge man, Ser Arthur was struggling to keep his face blank, even Lady Whent had to raise her hand to her mouth to keep from laughing. She wasn’t sure if it was because of the trees or because of Viserys’ rant.

Only the Unsullied Commander and Jaehaerys showed no mirth. 

“Zaldrīzes buzdari iksos daor, Prince Viserys” _A dragon is not a slave_. Jaehaerys looked straight at her and continued in a sharp, even voice: “He is not a slave to a King, he is not a slave to a Targaryen, not even to his rider and he’s certainly not a slave to his brother,” his indigo eyes bore into hers with such intensity that it felt like he was looking straight into the deepest part of her soul. 

“Tell me, Daenerys Stormborn, are you a Dragon?”

 

* * *

 

When she went to pack her things with Leg and Ghost in tow for protection and with Lady Whent, or Lady Mella, how she liked to be called, Dany realized that she didn’t have any possessions that were important to her except her mother’s ring. She only had a few light dresses gifted by Illyrio or her brother, who probably also got them from Illyrio.

Lady Mella noticed her uneasiness: ”Don’t worry about it, Little One. We will stop in Braavos for supplies and we will buy whatever things you need from there. Pentos clothes are not fit for the Further East weather anyway. I can’t wait to help you out, I love buying things! And if there’s one thing better than buying things, is buying things with the King’s purse,” she gave her a wink and a grin. Dany was a little overwhelmed by the lady's buoyant mood, but she couldn't help liking her. 

“I don’t want to be a bother,” she said, a little uncertain.

“Pish posh, you’re his family, you can never be a bother. He’s been looking for you forever!”

Warmth spread through her: “Did he?”

Lady Mella looked at her like she was simple: “Of course he did! I met them when His Grace was no older than five name days, he was traveling around the Free Cities in the hope of finding you. And he never stopped since. These days we have our duties in the East, but hired men are still out there looking, even when all of us thought you might be dead, King Jaehaerys refused to believe it and kept the search going.”

Happiness settled into her heart, even at their worst, there was somebody out there caring and looking for them. That’s what a real family must be.

Any doubts she had about her choice before, putting her life in the hands of these people she just met, were gone now.

 

When she went back in the yard, her small bag carried by Leg, her brother, who no doubt was in his cups by now, was cursing Jaehaerys: “Do you think she will go with you, bastard? I won’t allow it. I am her King, she will do as I say!” He nephew just ignored her brother, as usual.

She wanted to say something to Illyrio, but he didn’t seem to pay any attention to her, he was just looking up, probably still shocked to see his beloved trees half scorched.

Dany took a deep breath and turned towards her brother, pretending not to notice the smell of urine surrounding him: “Viserys, thank you for everything, I hope you find some happiness.”

“You’re not going anywhere, you slut! Your King demands it! You are going to stay here and wait for the Khal and suck his and all of his 40000 rider’s cocks until I get my fucking army!” He was positively rabid now.

Leg seemed to have lost all patience with Viserys and turned towards her brother, no doubt to teach him a lesson, but she grabbed him by the hand before he could do something: “Leave him be, he’s not worth it.” The big man looked at her surprised, but he just nodded and walked towards the exit.

She walked side by side with her nephew, excited to start her new life. And although she felt a little guilty by it, she couldn’t deny that she was more than a little pleased to get away from Viserys.

 

Outside the gates of the manse, a small army was waiting for them. In front, there was a man with short dark hair, dressed very similar to Ser Arthur, with the same white cloak on his shoulders. He also had a steel helmet under his arm with a big black bat painted on it.

“Daenerys, this is Ser Oswell Whent of the Kingsguard, he is Lady Mella’s husband,” Jae introduced him.

“I’m pleased to finally meet you, Your Grace,” the Knight gave her a short bow and a small smile.

“It’s a pleasure, Ser.”

“I know what you are thinking, Daenerys,” Jaehaerys interrupted before she had the chance to give the Knight one of her poorly trained courtesies. ”How can a man like that marry such a wonderful woman? We also wondered the same thing. We even made some wagers before the wedding: Leg here said that she only accepted him because he held a knife to her throat when he proposed, Arthur is sure that she was drunk when she said yes and she is too much of a Lady to take her word back now, and I am sure that nothing short of dark magic would have made her agree to marry him.” First, she was confused, as he was talking in his usual even tone, but then a giggle escaped her when she saw the glint in his eyes. Dany realized that while his face rarely betrayed anything, his eyes showed a lot.

“Jealousy doesn’t suit you, my King!” Ser Oswell answered with a wide grin, making a show of giving a deep bow to his wife and giving her hand a long kiss.

Ser Arthur interrupted Ser Oswell’s mummery: “You know, my Lady, His Grace can easily annul your marriage, no need to throw away your life because you had too much fire-water one night!” 

“Do you know he calls himself the Batman in training?” Leg added causing an explosion of mirth all around them.

“Ignore them, Princess, they are just jealous that I captured the brightest jewel in the world.” Ser Oswell said, and then bent down to her ear, whispering loud enough for everyone to hear: “She never stood a chance against the Batman!”

Lady Whent rolled her eyes: “Men!” and everybody was laughing, she swore that even Greyworm’s lips were turned up.

There was a litter and 2 tall horses in the middle of the soldiers waiting for them. “Can you ride, Daenerys? Or you prefer to take the litter, with Lady Whent?”

Dany loved riding, but she rarely had the chance to do it these days. “I would like to ride, Your Grace!” she answered. 

“I would be pleased if you would call me Jaehaerys, or Jae, Daenerys. Everybody else calls me Your Grace, and I’m afraid I will forget my own name soon.” He gave her his soft smile, the one that, for some reason that she didn’t want to think of, made her all flustered.

“Of course, Jae, I would be pleased to.” She looked at the two horses, one stark white and one all black, she didn’t have to ask to know which one was Jae’s.

“These are Silverbright,” he pointed to the white horse “and Midnight,” the black one.

“I never saw horses so big.”

“They are from Leng Ma, Leg’s family breeds them and trades them on the mainland,” he told her. “Believe it or not, most of the people there are as tall as him, so they breed these big horses.” He stroked their snouts gently: “These two are a pair, they were always inseparable, I only wanted to buy Midnight, but I had to buy both of them after seeing them together. He would have probably thrown me off the first chance he got if I didn’t,” she giggled at his words. She could believe that, the horses were standing very close to each other, even rubbing their heads together.

“Silverbright in now yours, take good care of her and she won’t let you down.” She was taken back, nobody ever gave her such a gift before. Dany wanted to refuse, it was too much, but Lady Mella caught her yes from the back and shook her head.

“Thank you, I will treat her well,” she promised.

“Come, let’s go.” As he helped her on the horse, her skin tingled at the hips, where his hands were, she could feel through the light dress she wore over her breaches that his skin was slightly colder than normal. Her skin was always hotter. A perfect match, she couldn’t help thinking. 

While riding through Pentos it seemed that every single person was on the street and was looking at them, a feeling of uneasiness washed over her, maybe she should have worn a scarf to hide her hair? They were always hiding their hair when she and Viserys went into the markets. And Jaehaerys didn't have that problem.

“Is everything all right?” Jae asked with concern. He dark eyes didn't seem to miss anything.

“Yes... no, I was thinking, should I not wear a scarf?” At his confused frown she continued: “When I went out with Viserys, we always covered our hair with scarfs.” She saw his frown disappearing as understanding hit him.

“We are blood and seed of Aegon the Conqueror, Little Dragon, let them watch, Targaryens are not made for the shadows.” 

She couldn’t stop the pride filling her whole body, just like she couldn’t help sitting straighter in the saddle and lifting her chin higher.

_I am a dragon, let them see it!_


	3. I could get used to this

 

#### 

THE DRAGON - THE NARROW SEA

 

They’ve been sailing for a few days now heading towards Braavos. Unfortunately, she didn’t have the chance to talk to Jae much, as he was busy most of the time, someone always wanted his attention. She supposed that’s what being King was like, your time was rarely your own. Everybody wanted a piece of him, just like her.

But it was a good few days, everybody was treating her well, and while the King was busy she spent time with the rest of the crew, trying to know them better.

Dany also liked to spend time with Silverbright and Midnight, to take care of them. Every morning when she went to visit they were well and freshly brushed, their caretaker told her that Jaehaerys came every morning before sunrise to brush and feed them. So they made a silent agreement, Jae was taking care of them in the morning, she was doing it in the evening.

 

Daenerys couldn’t help noticing how much Jae’s people cared about each other, they were like a weird little family and she was more than pleased to see that they were all trying to include her too. If she was being honest, she felt more connected to this group after a few days than she felt to Viserys in their last years together.

It was quite a thing to see, how such different people could fit in so well.

 

There was Leg, who looked like the scariest man in the world when she first laid her eyes on him in Illyrio’s manse, with his grim face and his huge ax, but he was a very kind and soft-spoken man around her, always making time to show her how to take care of the horses. He taught her to brush them with circular movements, starting with the croup and the muscles. Leg owned one of these big horses himself, a white horse with big brown spots. He taught her that the horses needed more care now because they didn’t have space to move around on the ship.

He told her about his family and his home Leng Ma. Dany was ashamed to admit that she didn’t know where that was, but the big man shrugged it off and explained that it was on the Leng island in the Jade Sea.

Leg spoke to her about his mother. People of Leng Ma rarely ventured outside the island, but his mother wanted to see the world, so she decided to trade horses on the mainland.

Daenerys tried to make a joke about how she thought he was a Dothraki at first, but when he coldly told her that he wasn’t, she let it go and made a mental note to never to bring it up again.

 

Then there was Ser Oswell, he seemed like the group’s jester. He always had a smile or a joke for her. She was curious about how he was married because she thought that the Kingsguard were forbidden to take wives, so he told her that the King changed that rule, saying that everyone deserved happiness. Although, he joked, Jae told him that he wasn’t that sure it was right to make the world suffer another Ser Oswell. The man was definitely an acquired taste.

 

His wife, Lady Whent, was the mother hen of the group - always fussing around them, looking after everyone, and setting them straight when they were out of line. Dany was a little overwhelmed by her at first, but she quickly grew to greatly like the lady as soon as she got used to her buoyant personality.

Dany laughed herself to tears when the Lady told her why everybody was calling her Mella: apparently, a 6-year-old Jae told her that her name was too long, and Kings should not waste their precious time with long names, he declared that she will be called Lady Mella from now on. Since then nobody called her on her full name again. Daenerys also learned that he used to call Ser Oswell Osy and Ser Arthur Artie when he was young. _'I am quite sure he only befriended Leg because he had a short name,'_ Lady Mella told her between laughs. Lady Whent also told her with a grin that now the King only calls people by their formal title and that Dany was the only one that he called by her first name in many years, making her blush scarlet.

Mella explained that her family had a nice house in Myr, but they died of grey scale and she was the only one not infected. People in their neighborhood were so afraid that the disease would spread that they burned the house down with all their belongings in it and she was left with nothing. Some even wanted to burn Mella alive to make sure she wasn’t spreading any disease and when she was running for her life she bumped into a 5-year-old Jaehaerys and they saved her life. When they found out that she spoke 10 languages and she was accomplished in mathematics, they took her in as the King was at an age where he needed a tutor and _'those two oafs Oswell and Arthur only knew how to wield swords and kill people',_ Lady Whent told her fondly.

Now she understood how the King spoke perfect Valyrian, she also learned that he spoke many other languages like YiTish and even Dothraki. When Lady Mella offered to teach her some new languages, she quickly agreed - she loved learning new things!

 

Daenerys even spent some time with Greyworm. While he was still a little bit closed off, she was pleased that he wasn’t reluctant to stay and talk to her. After spending one year in Illyrio’s manse, she never heard any of his Unsullied speak, she knew they were cut and she assumed they cut their tongues too.

Greyworm told her how Jae bought a few thousands of them from Astapor and then decided to free them and pay them wages like he paid his other soldiers. He also explained to her that he was the Commander of all the Unsullied under Jae’s command, then there was a commander for every 1000 men and then another commander for every century. To increase their efficiency, the Unsullied were the heart of this army, he told her proudly.

 

Another constant presence by her side was Ghost, who seemed to be bored with the King’s meetings and every time he was in one, which was most of the time, the wolf spent his time following her around.

She noticed that everybody gave Ghost a wide berth around the ship, Dany didn’t understand why, she really liked the fluffy white beast!

 

The only ones that she didn’t get to spend time with were Ser Arthur and Jae, which was expected since Ser Arthur was the King’s shadow, wherever the King went, he went. Arthur was always stern looking, but always polite, always asking if she needed anything. And Jaehaerys, while he seemed aloof from afar, now she knew better, he never failed to give her one of his soft smiles when they met, which in return never failed to turn her cheeks pink, and he always tried to talk to her, but his attention was usually needed somewhere else.

 

The chance to talk to Jae finally came one night when she couldn’t sleep and decided to go out of her cabin to get some fresh air when she heard a beautiful harp song coming from the back of the ship. Without realizing it, she moved towards the sound, like she was pulled by an invisible force. When she almost reached the place the sound came from, Ghost appeared in front of her and gave her a long lick on her cheek. 

“Can’t sleep, Daenerys?” she heard from the back of the ship. How did he know it was her? She made no sound and he certainly couldn’t see her from where he was.

“Hello, Jae, I guess I am not yet used to sleep with my bed moving under me,” she admitted. He was sitting down on the floor at the back of the ship, leaning on with his back on the edge.

“You'll get used to it eventually, we still have a very long way to go on the sea. Have a seat, Dany,” he said, tapping to the empty deck close to him with his palm. Unfortunately calling her Dany brought back some bad memories and she couldn’t stop flinching.

Jae, always observant, quickly noticed it: “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.”

She took a deep breath: “It’s ok, it just brought back bad memories, Viserys used to call me Dany when I woke the dragon.” Jaehaerys looked confused for a heartbeat then understanding and anger hit him. She swore she heard him say in a low voice under his breath _'I should have killed him.'_

Dany took a seat on the floor, close to him. A little too close, if she was being honest, but she didn’t care, she just wanted to be close to him, to be close to his heat close in this chilly night and he didn’t seem to mind. He made her feel safe. Dany was a little concerned about how quickly she became so attached to him, but she decided to think about it some other time. Ghost moved into his favorite position with his head on her lap as soon as she sat down.

“I won’t call you that again if you don’t like it,” he started gently, “but you should never let anyone take the things you love from you, you are much stronger than that. You can't fix your problems by ignoring them. If you have bad memories with Viserys calling you Dany, we’ll make new ones. Better ones.”

She actually loved it when he called her that, his light eastern accent made her name sound like a prayer, but she made a show of thinking it through, tapping her lips with her forefinger repeatedly. “Well, I do like it when you call me that, and after all, you did decree that the King has no time for long names. And the last thing I want is to go against my King’s wishes,” she said with a grin.

Jae released a long groan: “They told you about that, did they?” Even in the night, she could see his ears go red. ”The traitors, sharing their King’s secrets!” he continued, trying to look and sound stern and failing. She released a tinkling laugh, which seemed to please him.

Dany looked at the harp, it was a beautiful golden one, with dragons engraved all over it. She was mesmerized by his long fingers massaging its silver strings. “I didn’t know you played the harp.”

He moved his hand slightly, allowing her to see the harp better, it was exquisite. “It’s one of the few things I have left from my father,” he answered sadly, “and it appears that I also inherited his love for playing it.” Jae gave her a small, wistful smile: “Although it can’t be said the same about his beautiful voice. Ser Oswell likes to say that I sound like a horny auroch.”

She couldn’t stop the wave of laughter escaping her lips. “Well, maybe I can sing while you play, I used to love to sing when I was little.”

"I would love that,” he gave her a small smile and her hand a gentle squeeze. She noticed again how his skin was colder than normal, just like hers was hotter than normal.

“I couldn’t help noticing how your skin is colder than normal...” she couldn’t stop herself from saying, blushing a little at her boldness.

Jae seemed to think a little before answering: “I suppose it's that way for the same reason yours is hotter than normal. I also couldn’t help noticing that you were unaffected by Agnion’s heat...”

For some reason Dany felt a little self-conscious, she never told anyone her secret. How does one tell people that they can't burn without sounding mad, or without appearing to be some sort of a monster? She decided to make light of things, to release some of her anxiety: “Well, the most affected by the heat was Illyrio, those trees were his pride and joy.”

A full laugh bubbled out of Jaehaerys, the first she ever heard from him, even Ghost seemed surprised and lifted his head from her lap to look at Jae, as if he wasn’t convinced that that weird sound came from his master. She wanted to bottle that laugh, to keep it with her always.

“Well, Agnion always knew how to make an entrance!” he gave her a grin. “Ser Arthur says that he always wants to be seen, Ser Oswell likes to call him an attention whore,” she chuckled, that sounded like something Ser Oswell would say.

Jae gave a deep sigh and continued: “But none of them understand, the truth is that he is just lonely. I am the only one who can get close to him, and even I can’t stay that long, because of his heat.” Another sigh: “Dragons are not made to be alone, there is a reason why they always bonded with our ancestors,” her heart broke for this Dragon, then it hit her, if she was unburnt and the Dragon was too hot for anyone else to get near, did it mean that he was meant for her?

As if he heard her the red Dragon suddenly appeared above the ship, her blood started boiling and the now familiar sensation of empowerment swamped her, it was as if the Dragon lent her his strength every time he was near. The ruby Dragon gave a loud roar that woke everyone on the ship for sure and lit the sky with a breathtaking bright red streak of Dragonfire. 

Jae pointed to the sky and mouthed: “Attention whore.” The joke hit the target and a full-blown laugh left her lips.

The Dragon seemed to sense that they were making fun of him, so he huffed and turned his head the other way for a few moments, then flew away. She couldn’t remember ever laughing so hard.

After she finally stopped laughing Jae asked: “Tell me about your life.”

Dany started telling him about her life, leaving out some of the more grim details, she told him about the house with the red door in Braavos, she was surprised to hear that they also found that house, but she and Viserys already left it when they did, so they couldn’t track them. She told him about them being on the run, sleeping under the bridges and on the roofs, selling all their possessions and then begging for food. She also told him how they were found by Illyrio’s men just before they thought of selling her mother’s ring, which was the only thing of value they had left.

“I’m sorry you had to go through all of this,” he said as his hand gently wrapped itself around her shoulder. She wanted to wrap her arms around him, but she couldn’t make herself move Ghost’s head out of her lap, who looked like he was sleeping. “But you don’t have to go through this again.” He then continued with a grin: “We are rich!”

“I had it easier than you,” he started slowly, sounding a little guilty. She quickly gave his hand a gentle squeeze. “My father left me a lot of money and a Dragon egg at the Iron Bank, so we never had to worry about going hungry,” he said, pointing towards the sky, “it was a red Dragon egg, Agnion hatched from it.

“As soon as I grew enough to be able to travel, we started traveling all over the Free Cities to look for you, but with no luck,” he continued. “After years and years of traveling everywhere with no luck, we decided to leave men to keep searching the Free Cities for you and we went Further East, in search for a way to hatch the Dragon egg. 

“We traveled from Nefer to Jinqi and Asshai,” he said, “we didn’t find what we were looking for, but we found a few good friends along the way and even a place to call home. We also started to add to our army, first we bought some Unsullied and then started hiring sellswords, and as we reached a certain size, people started joining us wherever we went, some for the money, some to feed their families, some because they had nothing better to do.”

He now looked at her: “Do you know that there is another Targaryen alive?”

She was so surprised that she could only shake her head.

“His name is Aemon and he is a Maester in the Night Watch,” he said. “He is blind as a bat and the oldest man I ever met, over one hundred name days for sure,” he grinned, “but he is also the wisest person I know. He was the brother of Aegon the Unlikely.”

Her lips formed a wistful smile as she tried to imagine their great uncle. How did a man over a hundred look anyway?

Jae seemed to sense her curiosity: “Don’t worry, I made him promise to hold on until we go back home,” he said with another grin.

She chuckled: “I hope he will, I can’t wait to meet him!”

“When I first met him he was so shocked, he couldn’t speak for ten minutes, he thought he was the last Targaryen left. Whenever I was near him, he always held my hand or touched me in some way, I think it was to make sure I was real and his mind didn’t just make me up.”

Her heart broke for old Aemon, sitting alone at the end of the world, thinking he was the last one left. She didn't have it easy either, but at least she had her brother.

“Visiting him was the best thing I could do. I was so lost and overwhelmed by my mistakes, but he set me straight. _'You can't go back in time to stop making mistakes, but you should always take responsibility for them. Kill the boy and let the man be born!'_ , he told me," Jae said with a faraway look. "I then went behind the Wall to witness the new recruits taking their vows and I came back with sleepy head over here,” he pointed towards Ghost who was still sleeping in her lap, “and a very knowledgeable steward who made me rich.”

Jae's face became grim: “I also seen things that made me realize that the war for the Iron Throne is nothing in the grand scheme of things.” He took a breath, while she kept hers: “I saw dead people coming back to life with bright blue eyes, I saw a man who had roots growing through his body and claimed that he can see the past and the present through the trees, I saw the last of the Children of the Forest, a little woman called Leaf, sacrificing herself to help birth two Dragons,” he must have seen the horror on her face. “And that's only a small part of the weird things that started appearing around the world lately, Dany,” he said sadly, “something is happening and I'm afraid we're going to be stuck in the middle.”

“You said two Dragons. Is there another? I thought you said you only had one egg?” she asked confused.

“Indeed, I told you Maester Aemon was ancient.." she nodded. "When he was born our ancestors still had Dragon eggs to give to the royal children,” he explained. “He took his egg with him at the Wall and it was taken by another of our ancestors Brynden Rivers, who ended out being this Three Eye Crow, the man that had roots grow out of him”.

He took a deep breath and continued: “He used the egg to draw power from it for his magic and ended up sucking out all the heat. They said it was useless, just a frozen egg, but I could feel the life in it and I decided to put it in the fire alongside the egg from my father and Sonax and Agnion were hatched,” he finished.

“That’s quite a lot to take in,” she said, a little overwhelmed.

“It is, but bad things are coming sooner or later and we all must do our duty. Do you know the titles of the King and Queen of the Seven Kingdoms?” he asked.

“Of course!” she heard them a million times from Viserys. “King and Queen of the Andals, the Rhyonar, and the First Men, Lord and Lady of the Seven Kingdoms and Protectors of the Realm.”

“That’s right”, he said with a smile, “and Protectors of the Realm always comes first.” She just nodded at his words, it was true, the duty was to the people first and foremost.

He shook his head and that seemed to snap him out of his dark mood and gave her another soft smile.

After giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze, he pulled his harp between his legs: “I bored you enough with my stories, let me play something for you”.

She couldn’t stop the full smile that stretched her face. “I would like that.”

He started a slow song that she never heard before, but she was sure that it was the most wonderful sound she ever heard. Dany rested her head on his shoulder and slowly stroked Ghost’s head. Jae's fingers were dancing on the strings with unnatural dexterity, summoning a rain of godly sounds from the heavens that washed over Dany, soaking her skin, her heart, her soul in a feeling of contentment she never felt before.

Dany didn’t know what to think about walking dead men, tree men, and children of the forest. But one thing she knew for sure.

She could get used to this.


	4. A hundred years of anger

 

#### 

THE PRETENDER - MYR

 

Altheea startled awake from her restless sleep, her heart beating out of her chest. As always after a nightmare, she needed some time to focus on the room around her and remember where she was, her breathing slowly returning to normal when she recognized her villa in Myr.

She hated all these paintings and lace on the walls, it was hard to see the walls color because of them. They also brought back memories of a place she never wanted to remember again...

 _I will never be weak again!_ she vowed for the thousandth time.

 

Her handmaiden quickly came in as soon as she heard her wake up. “Good morning, Your Grace!” Ada said in her usual cheery voice. She was a cheerful full figured Pentosi girl with dusky skin and pale tan eyes, given to her by Illyrio a lifetime ago. She might be the only person Altheea liked, or if she was being perfectly honest, that she didn’t dislike.

“Have some men come here and throw away all this crap off my walls, I don’t want to see any paintings or lace left in this villa!” she ordered.

“As you wish, Your Grace," Ada said, bowing her head respectfully. "Kinvara is here to see you.” 

Talk about people she disliked.

“Let her wait in the solar until I’m ready,” Altheea said, more than a little annoyed. _Do these fanatics ever sleep?_ “Bring me something to eat, I will do it in my rooms. I might throw up if I eat with Kinvara and she starts preaching her usual Red God or Prince that was Promised nonsense.”

 

Altheea broke her fast thinking of Kinvara and her Red God followers. They were a weird lot for sure.

One day, when she was still living with Illyrio in Pentos, Kinvara came to the manse, dropped on her knees in front of her and proclaimed her the Princess that was Promised.

Altheea was sure that the redhead was mad, or at least well in her cups. When she wanted to throw her out, the Priestess started talking about how she saw her in the fires, riding a Dragon and raining fire over the army of the dead. That sure got her attention. Altheea, of course, pointed out that Dragons were extinct for 150 years. But all she got in return was a confident: “I can help you bring them back.”

Kinvara has been with her ever since. She even brought a thousand soldiers with her, the Fiery Hand they were called. They were slave soldiers, but Altheea was not the one to be picky. A large portion of her army was made out of slaves anyway.

When the noble houses behind the Black Walls in Volantis heard that she wanted to invade The Triarchy, they couldn’t offer their help fast enough. Twenty thousand soldiers in exchange for one of their own being chosen to govern the three cities in her name her after she sailed for Westeros. It was a good deal. They probably meant to cross her when she left, but these cities meant nothing to her. 

 

 

After she unhurriedly finished her food, Altheea went to her solar to meet the Red Priestess. Kinvara got up when as soon as she walked in and gave her a small courtesy. “My Queen.” 

“Priestess,” she returned her greeting with a lazy nod. “What does the Lord of Light want from me so early in the morning?” she asked, not quite managing to keep the annoyance out of her voice.

“I’ve seen it in the fires last night, there is a new enemy rising from the East.”

Altheea let out a sigh. “And who is this new enemy?” she was starting to get bored with these prophecies and visions, no wonder her ancestors never cared about Gods and sorcerers.

Although she had to admit that these Red followers had their uses. The Lord of Light was the most followed God in the Free Cities, and Myr was not different, the native people here were more open to an invading army when it had the backing of the Red Priests and its leader was declared the Champion of Light by them.

“I don’t know yet, I only know that they bring great destruction in their path and they come from the East.” Altheea couldn’t help rolling her eyes, most of the time these prophecies were as useful as a sharp rock in one's boot.

“I see... What about what you promised me, Priestess?” she asked rather impatiently.

“We still need a hundred people with Valyrian dragon blood, my Queen,” she answered. 

“That better work, Kinvara, you don’t want to test me,” Altheea said, in a threatening tone.

“I will serve you well, my Queen, the fires never lie,” the Red Priestess answered with a confidence that was both reassuring and disturbing. There was something about this woman that made Altheea uneasy.

“Well, there is not much we can do now but wait, let Lys and Tyrosh wager war against themselves and wait for a good time to invade. There is more than enough Valyrian blood there, we can trace the noble blood easy enough,” she said bored. “Leave me.”

“As you say, Your Grace!” after a courtesy, the priestess left her solar. Thank the Gods!

 

As soon as the Priestess left, Altheea got up and went to the window and looked down at her city. She lived in the biggest villa in Myr, it had seven tall towers, the one containing her chambers was the tallest, at least two hundred feet high. Her solar was at the top of the tower and was surrounded by glass instead of walls. It was her favorite place in Myr, it allowed her to see the whole city. When the Red Keep would be hers, the first thing she would do would be to build one of these glass towers, so that she could see all of King's Landing and everything else that belonged to her.

Altheea focused her vision on the streets below, she could clearly make out the golden cloaks and armor of the Golden Company patrolling the streets and the Red Priests preaching at every corner, no doubt about that Long Night or their Princess that Was Promised nonsense.

Altheea snorted every time she heard about the Long Night or about the Army of the Dead that killed everyone in its path and resurrected them as undead soldiers with blue eyes. It was the most ridiculous thing she has ever heard, but as long as it kept the Red Priests and their army with her, she could bear their crazy talk well enough.

Also the small-folk seemed to like it and believe it, and the Gods knew that they needed something to focus on.

After the sacking of the city, Altheea killed every Magister in Myr. It quickly made her rich, but killing the Magisters also created huge unrest among the Myrish people. Nobody felt safe anymore and riots were always ready to break out, she had her armies patrolling through the city at all times to keep the people in check.

Now, after a few moons, people were finally settled and she knew that it was mainly due to the Red Priests. Invading Myr made her a rich woman, with the Magisters out of the way, she took over their shops and now she held the monopoly over the glass and lace trade over the Narrow Sea.

After she would add Lys and Tyrosh to her building empire, she would be able to pick up their slave-trading routes, and start selling slaves herself, which would bring even more coin to her coffers. The Lyseni slaves, who were renowned around the world for their beauty, were quite expensive.

Soon she would be able to afford to hire every man that could hold a weapon in Essos.

 

Her thoughts went to Pentos, what was happening there? Did Daenerys marry the Khal? The wedding should be happening around this time.

When Illyrio came with the proposition, she wasn’t sure about it. Can she ally herself with those who destroyed her family and have taken their rightful place? It wasn’t an easy thing to do, her instincts told her to kill them all, yet her head said otherwise.

In the end, she decided that taking her family's rightful place back was more important than their squabble. And they were kin, after all.

There were also good things that would come from this union, the ones who would still challenge her birthright would be silenced if she wedded a true Targaryen. Also, her children would have more Dragon blood if they were sired by Viserys, her Blackfyre line was already soiled with useless blood, from their many years in exile, it would be good to inject some pureblood in it. And the forty thousand Dothraki screamers earned by wedding Daenerys to the Khal would almost double her forces.

Illyrio thought it well.

Illyrio, now that was an enigma if she ever saw one. What was his motivation in all this? Every time she asked why, he said that he wanted to be Master of Coin after she took the Seven Kingdoms, which was easy enough for her to promise. But he seemed to be doing a lot for such a small prize, others in his place would have asked for a kingdom or two to call their own.

She still remembered when the Magister’s men found her on the streets of Lys. She was thrown out of the pillow house she lived in when her mother died. Altheea lived there her entire life and they threw her away like she had greyscale, they said she was too young to work and they had no need of her.

Altheea promised herself that the first thing she would do after she conquered Lys was to burn that pillow house to the ground, with every one of those who threw her out and didn’t care when her mother got sick and died in it.

No doubt Kinvara would be delighted with the new offerings to her Red God.

The day Illyrio found her, she was at her lowest and she would always be grateful to the Magister for taking her in, although she was sure that he didn’t do it from the kindness of his heart. It was not easy to trust him, being the slippery man that he was, yet she still had grown to rely on his council. He never let her down until now. Altheea supposed that as long as they both had the same objectives, it didn’t matter much why he was helping her.

When she came of age, Illyrio brought Altheea the Golden Company’s leaders, who swore to serve her and help her get back what was rightfully hers without much thought. She knew that they always fought for her Blackfyre ancestors, her grandfather Maelys was the Company’s leader when he was murdered by Ser Barristan. Altheea was very disappointed to hear of Barristan’s dismissal from the Kingsguard and his disappearance from King’s Landing. Now that was a man she would enjoy killing.

In Volantis the masters liked to skin the disobedient slaves alive and then sprinkle sea salt on their bare flesh. All while having strong spices under their nose so that they won’t faint and feel all the pain. Altheea thought that was the least Barristan deserved for killing his rightful King. Maybe she would skin him herself, she thought, patting her thigh, where her Valyrian steel dagger was strapped, as always.

 

 

She was considering going into the yard to practice with her sword when she heard a knock and Ada came in: “Your Grace, Captain Strickland is here.”

Altheea couldn’t stop rolling her eyes, it wasn’t even midday and her patience was already wearing thin. This Harry Strickland was quite a sight, a short and portly man, how in the Seven hells was he made Captain of the Golden Company she didn’t know. The elephants he loved so much were more agile than him.

He was also the biggest coward Altheea knew. It was quite funny in a way, a coward leading the best army money could buy.

“You Grace,” Harry came in and gave a shallow bow, which was borderline disrespectful, but she couldn’t hold it over him, Altheea doubted that he could bend lower due to his sizeable belly.

“To what do I owe this pleasure, Captain?” she asked, sarcasm obvious in her voice.

The Captain gave her one of those hungry looks that made bile rise in her throat: “I am just here to report that things seem to have settled in the city,” he said. “My men are reporting that there were no problems in the last two days, the Myrish people seem to have accepted you fully, Your Grace.”

“I see, is that all?” she was trying to cut this meeting short before she asked one of her guards to throw him off her tower. Maybe his fat belly could absorb the fall, she remembered that when she was little she liked to tie pillows around her waist and jump from the bed without hurting herself. Perhaps his huge belly worked the same? Altheea would love to find out.

Harry looked a little disappointed but he continued: “Prince Viserys and Magister Illyrio also sent word that they will be here soon.”

“That’s good,” she cut him when she noticed he was trying to speak again. “Leave me, I need to prepare!” He looked at her like he wanted to help her prepare, but he must have finally noticed her rising annoyance and quickly excused himself with another half-arsed bow and left.

 

* * *

 

After taking a bath, she went in front of her looking glass to check herself out. Long bone-white hair, dark blue eyes that looked almost purple, a tall and lean frame, she was slightly more muscled than it was considered fashionable for a woman these days, no doubt due to her years of training, but her future husband should be pleased. The men around her liked to call her the most beautiful woman in the world, but they would probably call any Queen that as long as she didn’t look like a frog.

Illyrio told her that her future husband had the usual Targaryen look, he should be comely enough so that them coupling for an heir would not seem like a punishment. She should probably be thankful that she didn’t have to marry some fat, sweaty man like Illyrio.

In another life maybe she would have been just a normal girl, with no duties, living in a little house, in the middle of some forest, not in this fucking heat, with a nice man at her side and some children running around the house.

But she was not a normal girl.

She was a Queen, and a Queen’s life was never her own. And she had over a hundred years of anger that ran through her veins, a hundred years of anger that she would rain down on her enemies, big and small, until none of them were left.

 

As her handmaiden finished preparing her, one of the guards came in and announced that Illyrio and Viserys were waiting for her

When she entered her solar, Illyrio and a Valyrian looking man who could only be Viserys were sitting at the table, having some refreshments. Illyrio immediately stood up and gave her a deep bow, but Viserys didn’t even bother to rise from the table, he just gave her a curious look and kept eating.

Well, he was no charming Prince, that’s for sure!

“My Queen, my heart feels lighter to see you well!” Illyrio said, groveling as usual. “May I present King Viserys?”

Her betrothed finally stood up and gave her a leering look and a short bow. Illyrio made the rest of the introductions: “Your Grace, this is Queen Altheea.” She gave Viserys one of her heavily practiced perfect courtesies in return.

They were all standing up now: “I am surprised to see you here so soon, I am assuming that the Khal came sooner for his bride?” she started.

Illyrio and Viserys looked at each other uneasily. “Well, you see, My Queen, Princess Daenerys didn’t marry the Khal...”

Altheea was confused now. “What do you mean? Is she here with you?”

Illyrio looked a little sick now. She could tell that this wasn’t going to be good. “She left from under my protection.”

“What do you mean she left? You knew that she was important. How did you two idiots lose her?” This was definitely not a good day.

Viserys turned red: “How dare you call me an idiot, I am your King!”

After the day she had, Altheea just snapped. Before Viserys could even blink, her small fist went straight into his throat, her Braavosi fighting master would have no doubt been proud.

The only sounds Viserys could make now were coughs and gulps for air. She briefly considered drawing her dagger from her thigh and putting it through his left eye socket, but she knew it would create more problems than it would solve. And she would probably still have to marry him.

The Targaryen was still on his knees, struggling for air when Altheea picked a handful of his hair and made him look at her: “If you ever raise your voice at me again, I will have your tongue! Do you understand?” She looked him straight in the eyes. “Nod if you do.” Viserys gave about ten fast nods in a couple of heartbeats and she turned her attention to Illyrio: “Explain!” she demanded, with barely restrained anger.

“A man claiming he was Prince Rhaegar and Lady Lyanna Stark’s trueborn son came with a big army and took her away,” Illyrio spat out quickly.

This was not what she expected to hear. Another Targaryen?

“Do you think he’s real?” she asked the fat magister.

“I know not, Your Grace. But the Sword of the Morning himself was with him claiming that they have papers to prove it.” He cleared his throat a few times: “He also had a Dragon,” Illyrio said in a voice so low that she wasn't sure if she heard him right.

“Did you just say he had a Dragon?” That sounded impossible, how could anyone have a Dragon and keep him hidden?

“Indeed, My Queen,” the magister said, and then he continued in a mourning voice: “He burned my trees.”

It took every ounce of self-control she had not to start laughing so hard that they could hear her from Castle Black. Those fucking trees! She doubted Illyrio loved anything more in this life than those fucking trees.

Altheea already liked this new Targaryen, she wondered if he did it on purpose? Maybe she should marry him instead of this idiot in front of her, Altheea thought as she looked at Viserys with disgust. He was still holding his throat and coughing, his face color now matched his violet eyes. Maybe she should call for a healer before the idiot expired in front of her.

But no, there was no point in changing her plans now, a bird in hand was worth two in the bush. The other Targaryen might not be interested in marrying her and a man with a Dragon does as he pleases.

“How big was that Dragon?” she asked.

“A few years old, he was almost ready to ride.” Hmm, so they were already years behind, they must move faster with their plans!

“What about the Khal?”

“He sent word that his arrival will be delayed two more moons, but he expects a bride when he comes,” Illyrio answered warily.

Altheea turned towards Viserys: “My King, we shall wed in three days. After the wedding celebrations I shall come to Pentos to have talks with the Khal,” she said with finality.

“Now leave me, I don’t want to see any of you until the wedding day!” She then pointed towards her handmaiden: ”Ada will show you to your rooms, if you need anything, ask her.”

 

After they left, she went to her chambers and reached under the bed and pulled out a long wooden box where she kept her most prized possessions. She pulled out the biggest of the three petrified objects, drawing strength from its heat. It was of deep orange color, like dusk over the sea, with black ripples and swirls.

“Soon, my babies. Soon.”


	5. We are who we are

 

#### 

NO ONE - BRAAVOS

 

_Cersei Lannister, The Mountain, Walder Frey... Cersei Lannister, The Mountain, Walder Frey... Cersei Lannister, The Mountain, Walder Frey..._

 

The fucking list was all she had left. All she had left of Arya Stark. These days she repeated it all the time, afraid to lose herself for good, afraid that Arya Stark, daughter of Winterfell would cease to exist. The training with at the House of Black and White stripped everything she held dear away from her and now the only thing she had to remember her previous life was this fucking list. Luckily hate was a powerful motivator.

She was ashamed to admit it, but she didn’t use to care if she lost herself, she only wanted to be one of these Faceless Men. What else was left for her? All her family was dead, there was nothing to go back to. Nobody would care if Arya Stark would disappear. Seven hells, everybody probably thought her dead anyway!

But that all changed one day when posing as a street urchin to gather some information on the streets of Braavos, she found out that her father was still alive. Sent to The Wall, but still alive.

 

_Cersei Lannister, The Mountain, Walder Frey... Cersei Lannister, The Mountain, Walder Frey... Cersei Lannister, The Mountain, Walder Frey..._

 

Growing up at Winterfell she’s always been an outsider. Every one of her siblings had the Tully coloring, red hair with blue eyes, she was the only one to have inherited the coloring and looks of the Kings of Winter.

But that was not the only reason she felt out of place, to her mother's constant displeasure she just didn’t care to be a lady. While her sister Sansa and her friends were the perfect ladies, she just wanted to be out, to ride, to learn how to fight, to shoot arrows and to do many other things that high born ladies should not be doing.

Arya used to drive her Septa mad with her stubbornness, but she just didn’t care. Why did they need a Septa anyway? They were Starks of the North, they followed the Old Gods and the Old Ways, not the southern Gods. 

Not that she believed in any Gods, what did the Gods ever do for her anyway?

Arya was loved by her family, but she never felt as if she belonged. She wasn’t an ordinary girl and she didn’t care to be one.

It was no surprise that her favorite place in Winterfell was the crypts. That was where she went when she was sad, that was where she went when she was happy, that was where she went when she just wanted to get away and hide from everyone.

 

_Cersei Lannister, The Mountain, Walder Frey... Cersei Lannister, The Mountain, Walder Frey... Cersei Lannister, The Mountain, Walder Frey..._

 

It all started when Old Nan told her that she was the spitting image of her aunt Lyanna, both in looks and in temperament. That sparked her curiosity, everyone spoke fondly of her aunt Lyanna, nobody moaned that she didn't like to sew or sing. Maybe Arya could be more like her?

She started asking anyone who was old enough to know about her aunt. Arya started with her father and was very disappointed when he snapped at her and told her that he won’t talk about his dead sister.

But she was Arya Stark, she wasn’t going to quit until she found out everything. So she nagged and begged everybody who was old enough to know her aunt until they cracked.

Old Ser Rodrik told her that he trained Lyanna with a sword himself and she was as good as any of the Stark boys. He told her that she even had a thin Valyrian steel sword that she called Needle, in spite of her mother, Lady Lyarra, who always complained that she was not good with a needle as all ladies should be.

Rodrik told her that she got if from a Myrish Magister who came to Winterfell to trade glass for coal. The man saw her aunt training in the yard and took a liking to the little wild girl. With the last shipment of glass came a thin Valyrian steel sword with a note that said: “For the She-Wolf of Winterfell – Stick them with the pointy end!”.

Arya found out from the stable master that she was the best rider in the whole North, people around Winterfell used to call her a centaur - half man, half horse. Before that Arya didn’t ride much, because her sister Sansa and her friends used to laugh at her and called her Arya Horseface and she didn’t want to fuel their jests, but after that, there wasn’t a day that Arya didn’t take her horse riding in the Wolfswood or around Winterfell.

 

_Cersei Lannister, The Mountain, Walder Frey... Cersei Lannister, The Mountain, Walder Frey... Cersei Lannister, The Mountain, Walder Frey..._

 

Arya also found out from Old Nan that while Lyanna was wild and untamed, just like she was, she was still capable of acting like a Lady, and it didn’t make her look weaker. So, Arya decided to give up some of her less ladylike pursuits, like throwing food at Sansa during dinner and smearing mud all over her sister’s new dresses. And that was one of the best decisions she could ever make. Her mother, noticing her improved behavior, decided to look the other way when she was training and didn’t insist that much for her to attend the lessons with the Septa.

Her father, on the other hand, seemed to avoid her even more. Once Arya asked her mother why did her father hate her and Catelyn just gave her a tight hug and told her that he doesn’t hate her, it’s just hard for him because she looked and acted so much like his sister Lyanna.

She should have been angry that her father was avoiding her on purpose, but maybe she was just used to it and Arya was also very pleased to know that the one who knew her hero the best thought that they were very much alike.

Catelyn must have given her father quite a scolding because after that he tried to get closer to her, but it was hard not to notice the pain in his eyes when he looked at her. But he was trying and Arya appreciated that. Maybe that was the reason why he took her to King’s Landing alongside Sansa.

Arya used to hate her sister's guts, but now she would give anything to hear Sansa and her friends call her Horseface one more time.

 

Once Theon told Arya that her aunt Lyanna was kidnapped and raped by Prince Rhaegar, Arya hit him with her wooden training sword straight between his legs and, after the fool bent down in pain, kneed him in the mouth as hard as she could, chipping one of his teeth. Arya had to clean the stables for two weeks after that, but she wasn’t sorry, that would make the squid think twice before talking about her aunt again! Lyanna wasn’t a woman to be taken against her will, not even by the future King, she was sure of it! Her aunt probably just ran away because she didn’t want to marry King Robert, she even took her sword with her! And after meeting that fat fool, Arya was sure that she would have done the same!

 

After that Arya found herself in the crypts in front of her aunt Lyanna’s statue more and more, sharing her dreams and her sorrows to someone who she knew would have never have judged her and would have accepted her for who she was. She also made sure to always bring her a blue winter rose every time she visited. The gardener would have probably thrown a fit if he knew Arya was the one who stole them, but she didn’t care, they were her aunt’s favorite flowers.

 

_Cersei Lannister, The Mountain, Walder Frey... Cersei Lannister, The Mountain, Walder Frey... Cersei Lannister, The Mountain, Walder Frey..._

 

Ah, how she wished she was in the crypts of Winterfell now, her best thinking was made there, talking to her aunt Lyanna.

Arya should have never agreed to dedicate her life to the Many-Faced God, she was the last remaining blood of the old Kings of Winter, not some bloody religious fanatic. She should have found another way to kill the people on her list that didn’t involve her throwing her life away.

The only good thing that came from all this was that Arya was a very good fighter now, she just had to find a way to run from the House of Black and White and go back where she belonged. She was a wolf, the wolf belonged with his pack, and these fuckers were certainly not her pack.

 

Now she was stuck in the harbor all day, selling shellfish and spying on her target. “The thin man” they called him - he was just an old man who sold ship insurance - he didn’t even seem like the bad type, but who knew what these fuckers were really up to...

Arya fucking hated the smell of fish, she was sure that after this assignment was over, she won’t ever eat fish again. And she couldn’t get any useful information anyway, the only thing everybody was talking about was the Targaryen fleet coming their way.

They said it was led by King Jaehaerys and Queen Daenerys. Arya heard that Daenerys’ brother was called Viserys, so maybe this one was a different Targaryen. People were saying this one had dark hair, but she never heard of a dark-haired Targaryen so it might only be stupid gossip.

People were also saying that this King had a white dog as big as a horse with red ruby eyes. That she wanted to see, it sounded like a beautiful creature, she wondered if it was bigger than a Direwolf, bigger than her Nymeria? Arya still dreamed of her Direwolf almost every night, hunting in the forest with her pack, she could even taste the blood in her mouth when she woke up. She tried to push down the wave of sadness washing through her, no point of thinking of Nymeria now, Arya would go to the Riverlands and look for her when she reached home, but she must find a way out of her current predicament first.

Some people were even saying that the Targaryens had a huge red Dragon that burned down some magister’s house in Pentos, but she could only roll her eyes at this, everybody knew that Dragons were gone for more than 100 years.

 

_Cersei Lannister, The Mountain, Walder Frey... Cersei Lannister, The Mountain, Walder Frey... Cersei Lannister, The Mountain, Walder Frey..._

 

After a few more hours of moving her shellfish cart around Arya noticed that everyone was looking out to the sea. A massive fleet was slowly moving towards the harbor. She could see the three-headed Dragon sails. The Targaryens were there.

The Sealord of Bravoos himself came to the harbor earlier and told everyone not to be afraid because they asked for permission to dock and get supplies from Braavos.

She wondered how would these Targaryens be: brave and Godlike like Aegon, Visenya, and Rhaenys, or mad like King Aerys?

Everybody was awed. No doubt, just like her, they never thought they would see a Targaryen coat of arms ever again. That fleet was quite large, there must have been at least fifty ships out there!

And there, above the many ships, there was a large red Dragon flying in circles! Arya rubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands then looked again, just to make sure she didn't imagine it, but the beast was still there! She couldn’t stop staring! The way she was gaping, she was sure her jaw would hit the ground soon.

It looked like everybody slowly started realizing what that was and they all started gasping and screaming in fear. The Dragon looked like it heard them and suddenly started flying towards them planing low, just above the crowd. He was so low that she could almost touch him if she raised her hands above her head. The heat he was releasing was palpable. After he passed them, the Dragon flew high in the air and shot a jet of beautiful bright red Dragonfire that lit up the sky.

People all around Arya quickly forgot about their scare and started cheering like it was some mummer’s play, not a huge fucking Dragon that could burn everyone there in a heartbeat. This only strengthened her opinion that people were really stupid.

Maybe she was imagining things, but the Dragon actually seemed to enjoy the attention, he lit the sky with another jet of Dragonfire then flew away in people’s cheers. 

Idiots.

 

_Cersei Lannister, The Mountain, Walder Frey... Cersei Lannister, The Mountain, Walder Frey... Cersei Lannister, The Mountain, Walder Frey..._

 

The Targaryens finally docked and she pushed herself in the front line so that she could see them. A huge Dothraki with a massive ax strapped on his back and a tall blonde Knight dressed like a Kingsguard came first and behind them were the Targaryens.

She was surprised to see that the Targaryen Queen was just as small as her, but she was no Horseface, that's for sure. She looked like a Goddess, the image of Old Valyria, she never saw a woman so beautiful. And the King matched her in beauty inch by inch. But he was her complete opposite: the Queen was fair, he was dark, she had silver hair, he had dark brown hair, she had light violet eyes, he had dark indigo eyes. She wasn’t usually interested in these kinds of things, but she couldn’t help it - she was mesmerized. 

Arya couldn't help thinking that if Sansa was there she would have probably fainted at the sight.

As she was admiring the Targaryens, she noticed that the blonde Knight was looking attentively at her, maybe he was from Westeros and he recognized her? She needed to leave, but before she could turn around and run, she saw him. Arya first thought that she smelled too much fish and her mind was playing tricks on her, but he was there. 

Stark white fur with red ruby eyes and the size of a horse.

It was a fucking direwolf!


	6. Not all are worthy

 

#### 

THE SWORD OF THE MORNING – BRAAVOS

 

Arthur was pleased to see that they finally reached Braavos. He was no seaman that’s for sure and, unfortunately, the next few months would be spent on sea, like they spent their previous months. But looking at the front of the ship, where Daenerys stood flanked by Jaehaerys and Ghost, he couldn’t help thinking that it was well worth it.

This slip of a girl was everything they hoped for. And much more. Judging by the looks the King was giving her, he was quite pleased with her too. Maybe he would make her his Queen, Arthur has never seen Jaehaerys take interest in any other woman before.

King Jaehaerys was a very good ruler, but he could be quite single-minded at times, just like his father. That wasn't a bad trait to have as a King, but since he always kept his eyes on the goal, he tended to be indifferent to all the beauty around. Maybe Daenerys could teach him to enjoy the little things in life. The girl was also quite warm and forgiving, she stopped Leg when he wanted to punish Viserys, even if he treated her poorly, which also bode well with their potential union since Jaehaerys tended to be quite dismissive and ruthless at times. 

 

Arthur couldn’t believe that they only met Daenerys one week ago. The trembling, shy girl from their first meeting was almost gone now.

These Targaryens always were very fast learners. He remembered Jaehaerys was barely a year old when he started talking in full sentences and started walking when he was barely six moons old.

Lady Mella was shocked at how fast he picked up her learnings, the young King picked up the languages she was teaching him in half the time normal people did. Oswell's wife might have been surprised, but Arthur wasn’t. He still remembered Jae’s father, his best friend Rhaegar. In his early years, he used to be a bookish sort of guy, taking no interest whatsoever in swordplay or any kind of fighting. Until one morning, when he presented himself in the training yard and asked for a sword and a shield. In a few years of training, he nearly matched Arthur's skill with a sword, and the Sword of the Morning has been training since he learned to walk. Rhaegar was a very determined and fast learning man, and his son was the same.

And so was his sister, apparently.

Of course, that didn’t mean that all Targaryens were the same. There were useless Targaryens too, Arthur also remembered that Viserys was around three when he finally started talking and of course, his father was mad as a box of frogs. He would never forget Maester Aemon words: _'Every time a Targaryen was born, the Gods toss a coin, and the world holds its breath.'_ There was a very thin line between genius and madness and the Targaryens proved that often.

Arthur looked back at Daenerys, who was calmly petting Ghost’s head and couldn’t help noticing how much she resembled her late mother. Queen Rhaella was one of Arthur’s greatest failings. He still had nightmares with her screaming when the Mad King used to go to her chambers after he burned someone. Aerys raped and beat her and they were forced to stand outside the door and pretend that nothing was wrong.

He remembered one of his talks with Ser Gerold Hightower, the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard when they were guarding the Queen’s rooms while Aerys raped her:

 _“Isn’t our duty to protect her?”_ his younger version asked.

 _“Not from him, Arthur. Not from him.”_ came the answer.

And even after all she’s been through, the former Queen still made time to care for her people, many times you could find her visiting an orphanage, a sick house or even Flea Bottom trying to help the people there.

She always had a kind smile for everyone, from servants to Knights and Lords. Although he was sure that none of the Knights in the Kingsguard could look her in the eye. Even now, after almost twenty years, the guilt still came back and consumed him from time to time.

He hasn’t talked about it with Oswell, but he knew that he felt the same. It was hard not to notice the wistful looks he gave the Princess, no doubt he saw this opportunity a second chance of redemption, just like him.

Queen Rhaella was probably the strongest person he ever knew. People always thought about big muscles or how well you could wield a sword when they thought of strength, but true strength was having life throw every shit possible at you and not letting it break you and change who you were.

He was pleased to see the signs of the same strength and determination in Daenerys. Arthur was sure that if they didn’t make it in time and she would have wed the Dothraki Khal, she would have endured, and she would have made the best of it without letting it break her.

Arthur thought back at the time when she met Ghost. The wolf was a beast from the Seven Hells, as far as he was concerned. The King’s Dragons were scary for sure, but the white wolf was the scariest. And it wasn’t the fact that he was the size of a fucking horse, or because his intelligent ruby eyes sank so deep of your soul that they brought all your fears to surface. It wasn’t even the fact that he could fit your whole head between his jaws, or because of his unnatural speed...

No, it was the fact that the beast never made a fucking sound! Arthur considered himself a very observant man, a skill he perfected in his many years as a Kingsguard, but he couldn’t even remember how many times his heart nearly stopped when the wolf sneaked up on him. A thing that deadly shouldn’t be so fucking silent!

The wolf liked no one except the King, yet this small girl only had awe in her eyes when he sniffed her, she even put her hands around the wolf’s neck and hugged him. The same beast that made her brother piss himself only a few heartbeats before. Arthur was sure then. She was as mad as her father! Maybe madder!

And yet, the silver-haired girl and the white wolf were the best of friends now. Every time Jae was busy, Ghost went to Daenerys and spent time with her. Arthur was awed every time he saw them.

A lot of their people, including him and Ser Oswell knew Ghost since he was a little pup and some of them even tried to befriend him. But the wolf showed no interest in any of them. Hell, he’s pretty sure he disliked most of them. Ser Oswell even had this rule - “The Ten Feet Rule” he called it - it meant that never, ever, under any circumstances he would go closer than ten feet from Ghost. The King rolled his eyes when he told him, but he accepted his conditions.

And then this girl came and in a few heartbeats, she had Ghost’s head in her lap. Literally.

Wonders never ceased.

 

They were close to the Ragman's Harbor now, he could see all the people gathered on the shore, no doubt to get a look at the Targaryens and their Dragon. For their own good, Arthur hoped they will only see the red Dragon.

As always, Agnion was soaking the attention. Arthur couldn’t help rolling his eyes, most of the time that Dragon acted more like a giant flying cat than a deadly fire-breathing monster. No wonder Oswell called him an attention whore, he would never agree with him out loud, but in his head, he thought the description was oddly fitting.

 

* * *

 

As their ship finally docked, he and Leg took their positions in front of Jaehaerys and Daenerys. He surveyed the crowd for any threats when his eyes fell on a small, familiar looking girl. Surely he thought too much of the past these last few days and his mind must be playing tricks on him? That girl was the spitting image of Lyanna Stark. Arthur shook his head then closed and opened his eyes, just to make sure he was not imagining things, but the girl was still there, staring in awe at the King and the Princess.

He didn’t know what to do. Jae noticed his hesitation and pulled Daenerys behind him protectively.

“Ser Arthur, is everything all right?”

The Sword of the Morning was thinking about how to explain it to him without sounding mad when Ghost came into view and the girl’s reaction to the wolf told Arthur that he was right. She didn’t look at him with fear or awe, she looked at him in shock, like she knew what he was and couldn’t believe there was a Direwolf in Braavos.

“That girl right there, my King,” he gave a little nod in the girl’s direction, casual enough not to attract attention, “she is the spitting image of your mother”. The King frowned like he wasn’t sure what to think about this so Arthur continued: “She also recognized Ghost, I am sure of it.”

The Knight could clearly see the surprise on Jaehaerys’ face, now he was looking straight at the girl. The Princess stepped forward from behind the King, took his hand and started walking towards the girl dragging him after her. “Come, Jae, let’s meet her. She might be one of your mother’s kin!” she said excitedly.

The girl was still looking at Ghost who strolled silently towards her. The beast sniffed her a little then bent his head demanding the girl to pet him. He knew right there that this girl was of Stark blood, Sansa or Arya, or maybe some Stark bastard. What in the Seven Hells was she doing in Braavos?

Dany and Jae reached the girl, who was startled to see them in front of her, too focused on Ghost to see them coming. She recovered quickly and gave them a poorly executed courtesy that would make Lady Mella cringe: “Your Graces.”

Daenerys looked at the King, waiting for him to say something, but he was too shocked to do so. He must have reached the same conclusion as him, after Ghost’s behavior. So the Princess decided to introduce herself: “Good day, my Lady, I am Daenerys Targaryen, this is King Jaehaerys Targaryen.” The Princess continued: “What’s your na….”

The King seemed to have snapped out of his shock and interrupted her: “I am the son of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark.” The girl's eyes were wide as saucers now. “What’s your name, little one?” Jae asked not unkindly.

The girl started trembling now and her eyes became a little wet, Ghost sensing her vulnerability, gave her a long lick on the face, causing the girl to release a teary chuckle.

Then she looked at the King, hands shaking: “I am Arya Stark of Winterfell, Your Grace.” A huge grin broke free on Jae’s face. “Are you truly aunt Lyanna’s son?” Arya asked in awe.

“Indeed I am, little one!” he barely finished his sentence and Arya was in his arms, hugging him with all her strength. The King released a loud, uncharacteristic laugh. After Arya released him, to everyone’s surprise, she went and gave Daenerys a similar hug, who was only too happy to return it and gave the girl a blinding smile.

As the King still seemed a little overwhelmed by his newfound kin, Daenerys asked: “How are you in Braavos, Lady Arya?”

“Just Arya, Your Grace. It’s a long story.”

“Then you must call me Daenerys, if you are Jae’s family, you are mine too,” said the Princess with some excitement. Arthur had to chuckle, she seemed as excited as Jaehaerys, maybe even more.

The King finally found his voice: “Are you here alone?” he asked in concern.

“Yes,” she replied hesitantly. “I am staying at House of Black and White.” With the Faceless Men? What in the Stranger’s name was she doing there?

Arya must have seen the surprise and confusion on everybody’s faces: “I didn’t have anywhere else to go, I thought all my family is dead,” she said in a shaky voice.

It was surprisingly Daenerys that spoke next, in a fierce tone that broke no opposition: “You are coming with us!”

Jaehaerys turned towards Grey Worm: “Where are our lodgings?”

“At the Golden Cock, My King,” he answered, “We let the whole inn.”

“Good, summon a hundred Unsullied to come with us and send the rest of our people to the inn,” the King ordered.

“At once, My king!”

 

* * *

 

The House of Black and White was a strange building, located just outside of Braavos on one of the many isles, built on a rocky knoll, it had no windows that Arthur could see, just a massive two-piece door, ebony on one side and white wood that appeared to be weirwood on the other.

They had a huge following now, most of the people from the harbor decided to follow them there. They stationed the Unsullied outside and he, the King, Princess Daenerys - who absolutely refused to be left behind, Arya and Ghost went in.

A skinny woman dressed in a robe, half black, half white welcomed them.

“We are here to see the Kindly Man,” Arya told her. The woman gave Ghost a wary look and a displeased one to Arya, then looked at the Targaryens for a long moment and nodded. She signaled them to follow.

They reached an inner courtyard, which had a ten feet wide pool filled with black water in the middle. On the edge of the pool sat a man dressed in a robe similar to the skinny woman, his face covered with a hood.

The King stepped forward: “I am Jaehaerys Targaryen,” he pointed towards the Princess and him: “these are Daenerys Targaryen and Ser Arthur Dayne.” The priest got up and walked towards them, “We are here to claim back Arya Stark’s life.”

“Arya Stark’s life belongs to the Many-Faced God now,” the priest said in a surprisingly kind voice.

“Then we shall buy it from him.” Jaehaerys pulled out a blue Rainbow Diamond from his purse and showed it to the priest. “You can buy a small town with this,” he said.

The priest pulled down his hood and instead of a human face, he had just a yellow skull with scraps of skin hanging from it and a worm in his eye socket.

Neither the King nor the Princess showed any reaction to the gruesome sight.

“Our God cares nothing of riches,” the priest said after some moments of silence. Most likely the man expected some kind of reaction at his reveal. Arthur wanted to laugh, after the things they've seen...

The Princess stepped forward, her eyes shooting fire: “We came here to release Arya and we will do it!” she said fiercely. “We’re Targaryens, the blood of Dragons runs through our veins, we don’t care about your Gods or your magic tricks,” she pointed towards his head. “If you don’t accept riches, then we have a full army that we will bring here and raze this temple to the ground, and all that would be left of your precious Gods will be a pile of rubble.”

The King couldn’t hide the surprise from his face when he looked at Daenerys, even if he tried, Seven Hells, he must have had a similar look, he’s pretty sure that even Ghost was impressed! Arya looked at Dany like she hung the moon. Was this the same girl that was cowering before her brother a week ago?

The priest also seemed a little taken back by Daenerys’ unexpected speech, but he recovered fast enough: “Do you think you’re the first to threaten us, girl?” he spat.

Arthur looked at the King, his surprised look was now replaced with barely contained anger.

Shit!

“We’ve been here for thousands of years, kingdoms and armies more impressive than yours tried to take us on and they all ended the same way. Offerings to The Many-Faced God,” the priest said with venom, all kindness gone from his voice. ”Maybe you will receive The Gift too, that will teach you to disrespect our God in his house!”

He didn’t need to look at Jaehaerys to know what will happen next. The King’s right hand was at the priest’s neck in a flash easily lifting him so high that his feet no longer touched the ground and he was struggling to breathe. His skull face changed into the face of an old man. The skinny temple girl tried to pull a knife from her robe, Arthur quickly pulled Dawn to strike her down, but Arya was faster and stepped between the woman and Jaehaerys with a small dagger in her hand, ready to defend the King. Ghost beat them both, though, Arthur just saw a flash of white moving with blinding speed in front of him and next thing he knew the young woman’s head was in Ghost’s mouth, cracking like an egg under the pressure of the wolfs strong jaws. Her body went limp in a heartbeat.

The Sword of the Morning looked around to see if anyone else was coming, and when he was sure it was safe he turned towards the King, who was enraged now.

“Don’t. Ever. Threaten. My family.” his words sounded more like a growl. The priest was now struggling for air. “Do you think your God can protect you?” Jaehaerys asked. “Do you want to see a God?”

He threw the priest on the floor and the Many-Faced God servant started coughing, trying to fill his lungs with air.

“I’ll show you a God!” The King growled and his eyes became milky white.

Suddenly an earth-splitting roar was heard from above. The people gathered outside the temple started screaming and praying to their Gods.

Arthur wasn’t surprised to see the huge Ice Dragon landing on the building with a loud thud, the roof struggling to hold Sonax's weight. He was larger than Agnion. This Dragon was a bit of a loner and they rarely saw him, but the King assured him that he was always close.

The priest's face took the yellow color of the skull he was trying to scare them with before, his limbs were trembling so hard he couldn’t get up from the floor.

Arthur suddenly saw Jaehaerys pull Daenerys behind him, and raised his forearm in front of his eyes, he took the cue from his King and pushed Arya behind him and raised his hand in front of his eyes. After another loud roar, Sonax released his frozen breath straight on the fountain in the middle, making it explode into a million small pieces of ice all over the yard.

The Many-Faced God servant had his face on the ground, his hands covering his head. When he looked up, Jaehaerys offered him the Rainbow Diamond again without a word.

The priest took it as fast as he could with his trembling hands: “Yes, yes, not all are fit to serve the Many-Faced God. I can see that now.”

Sonax gave another roar, a softer one this time and took flight, looking pleased with his work, half of the building’s inner wall collapsed under the Dragon's weight when his legs pushed him up in the air. To Arthur’s horror, human faces were scattered between the rocks, all over the inner courtyard. 

The King took Daenerys’ hand and started moving towards the exit, shards of ice cracking under their boots, Ghost following on their trail. Just before leaving the courtyard he turned around towards the priest: “This better be the last time we see each other!” he said in a threatening tone.

After they left the temple they noticed that all the people that came with them from the harbor scattered, no doubt fearing the Dragon.

Arya was bouncing in excitement. “That was so cool!” she told Daenerys, “how you stood up to him and threaten to raze the temple to the ground!”

“She’s quite a spitfire, isn’t she?” Jaehaerys said with pride in his voice and to Arthur’s surprise, he leaned over and gave Daenerys a soft kiss on the temple.

If Arthur was surprised, Jaehaerys looked shocked by his own boldness, both he and Daenerys went red as beetroots.

Luckily for them, Arya didn’t notice and continued gushing over them.

“And that Dragon! What’s his name? Where did you get him? Can he breathe fire or only ice? What does he eat? Can you ride him?...”

Arthur was walking behind the Targaryens and he couldn’t see their faces, but he could almost hear their eyes rolling.

He could also hear the King’s next words:

“Hey Dany, do you think is too late to send her back?”


	7. You know nothing, Jaehaerys Targaryen!

 

#### 

THE KING - THE SHIVERING SEA

 

_"Kill them all!" he yelled, his voice still plagued by the awkwardness of youth._

_"Jaeha... Your Grace, they surrendered, maybe we should..." Arthur, always the voice of reason, tried to speak, but he was too angry with them to listen. Too angry with himself._

_"Kill them all, I said!"_

 

Jaehaerys shook his head, there was little use of thinking about the past mistakes now. He couldn't change them even if he wanted to. All he could do is assume the responsibility for his actions, try to fix them as best he could and hope that not many people would die because of them.

They were back to sailing for a few days now and they were still many moons away from their home away from home. He knew that his people didn’t like sailing, but he didn’t mind it much. Jae was a land creature, just like them, but he found a certain calmness in the Shivering Sea. He often found himself on the deck, just absorbing this calmness and ordering his thoughts. Ser Oswell liked to call it his “Daily Brood”.

When they sailed towards Pentos he was scared that they wouldn’t get there in time and Daenerys would be already claimed the Dothraki, so he forced his people to sail as fast as possible, without any stop, they only used their scouting ships for provisions.

He knew that his people were tired and frustrated before they got to Pentos, most of them were land people, people that barely suffered the seas on short trips, but sailing for moons without stepping on land must have been really hard. But they suffered in silence and trusted him, his men were never the ones to complain.

Jaehaerys had no choice, anyway, if Dany would have been hurt because they took breaks that they didn’t have to and didn’t get there in time, he would have never forgiven himself. Even now, thinking of someone hurting her made his usually cold blood burn like wildfire.

But it all ended well, they got there just in time and managed to convince Dany to put her faith in them. And if it was one thing Jaehaerys knew for sure, it was that he will never ever let her down.

Jaehaerys was surprised how smitten was with the girl from the start. He traveled all over Essos and even Westeros and he saw many beautiful women, but he never found himself unable to find words in front of one. In truth, he never paid too much attention to women, and he has never even considered visiting a pillowhouse. Powerful blood ran through his veins, the blood of the Kings of Winter and Old Valyria, the blood of Wargs and Dragonlords, he couldn't risk siring bastards.

And yet, one look at Daenerys and he was lost. Perhaps it was the Dragon blood in his veins recognizing his mate? It was no wonder that the Dragonlords married each other for millennia.

 

He remembered one of their last days in Braavos, they were invited to dinner by the Sealord himself.

Jaehaerys didn’t think much of it, he was used to being invited to the most powerful people’s houses, no matter where he went, also this Sealord was known to be a lover of unique animals and there were few animals more unique in this world than Ghost. Direwolves were extinct for over 200 years, longer than even Dragons, and never in history were recordings of an albino Direwolf to ever exist. Until now, of course. So it was no wonder that this Sealord wanted to see him from up close.

He didn’t like parading Ghost around, or himself for that matter, so he didn’t want to go. He had little interest in spending time with glorified pirates, but Dany convinced him that it was good to have friends, and it was the least they could do after they attacked the House of Black and White. She even convinced him to get the Sealord a present, to thank him for letting their fleet dock in Braavos. So many ships were not easy to fit there and it definitely slowed down the trading in the islands.

Jae still chuckled when he remembered Dany’s face after he spread the Rainbow Diamonds they had with them on the table to pick one for the Sealord. He forgot to tell her that they were mined on his lands. They eventually chose a beautiful green diamond, not too big to look like they were fawning over the Sealord, yet not too small to make them look ungrateful. The Sealord seemed ecstatic with the diamond, the green ones were quite rare.

The Rainbow Diamonds created quite a cult in Essoss, they were quickly becoming a symbol of people's wealth, the bigger and rarer they were, the wealthier the owner was. But in this part of the world, you rarely saw any other than the most common red color. It was no wonder, the rare colors were always instantly snatched by the hundreds of YiTish Kings, Princes, Warlords, Generals, and Brigands as soon as they hit the markets in Trader Town.

He could understand the Sealord’s enthusiasm, it’s unlikely that anyone in the Free Cities had a similar one. The man was wearing a common red one, like all the Magisters and other rich people he met in Pentos and Braavos.

The dinner went better than he expected, and it was all down to Dany. If it was just him, he would have probably sat at the table, eat and just give some short one-word non-committal answers to their questions. Maybe brood a little and wait for a reasonable time to pass, so he could leave. But thankfully Daenerys managed to draw him out a little, so he told the Sealord of their Forts in the Further East, his trip to the Wall and even their mining operation. And when he started falling into his old habits, retreating into himself and starting to brood too much a grape promptly hit him in the head and brought him out of it. At the end of the evening, he felt that they had developed a good relationship with the Sealord, and they might even be good allies in the future.

The only thing he didn’t like that evening was the Sealord’s son throwing lustful looks towards Dany. His anger must have been noticeable because after the boy looked at him, he never looked towards Daenerys all evening. Jaehaerys also couldn’t miss Arthur’s eye roll from the back, where he was staying vigilant as always. Others take him for seeing that! It could have been worse, he thought, if it would have been Ser Oswell the one to see it, he would have never heard the end of it. Fortunately, with Ghost taking part, Oswell stayed at the inn, Jae was never more thankful for the Ten Feet Rule than he was then. He told himself that he got angry because it was his job to protect her, but that excuse fell short even to his ears.

If before going to Braavos he had any doubts, after that he was sure that Daenerys will make a perfect Queen. She complemented him perfectly. But he didn’t free Daenerys from the unwanted marriage with Drogo to throw her into an unwanted marriage with him. After what happened to his mother, there were few things he hated more in this life than forcing a woman to marry against her will. Jae didn’t want her to feel obligated to accept him just because he saved her, he wanted her to want him as much as he wanted her.

He wanted to woo her as she deserved. But what did he know about wooing women?

_Nothing. You know nothing, Jaehaerys Targaryen!_

Jaehaerys thought that he was doing well, she seemed pleased with him, but that all changed when they set sail. These days she was always crossed with him, he hasn’t seen her smile at him for a few days now. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but he missed her smiles.

Dany seemed to be particularly angry with him when he went in the mornings to see Arya train. At first, he was concerned that she hated Arya, but they got along great, almost like sisters, only when he was around he would see Daenerys narrowing her eyes and looking between him and Arya.

He would never understand women! Jae needed some advice, but who could he ask?

Leg would probably tell him to hit her in the head, throw her over his shoulder and carry her to his cabin, Arthur showed as much interest in women as he did before meeting Dany, and that was none, that only left him with…

 _Oh, no!_ That would definitely be his last resort.

Lost in his musings, his steps took him like on most mornings, in the back of the ship where Arya was training and he took a seat on a bench across from her. She was well trained, it was obvious, but she had a weird fighting style, a style made of twirls, spins, dodges, and jumps. A very acrobatic style, Arthur told him it was called water dancing and it was used by some of the greatest warriors in Braavos, the First Sword of Braavos among them. It was a style that was nice to look at, but Jae didn’t like it that much. No doubt it would be a very strong style in duels, but in war, when enemies came at you from every direction, it would be impossible to dodge them all, there you had to stand your ground most of the time. He made a mental note to tell Arthur to train her, maybe he and Oswell could train both Arya and Dany at the same time.

Jae remembered when he asked Dany to start training with a sword, they will have many wars to fight and he needed everyone to be able to protect themselves. He didn’t know what her reaction would be so he had this long speech prepared to convince her, but he barely finished asking her that she enthusiastically accepted.

She was awkward in the beginning, but she learned really fast. Whenever Arthur told him about how some Targaryens were very fast learners and how his father learned to fight almost as well as Arthur only after a couple of years of training, he always rolled his eyes but seeing Daenerys improving at incredible speed every day made him think that maybe there was something in that. And it only made sense that if some Targaryens were special, Dany was one of them, every man and his dog could see that.

But it was not only natural talent, she was also a hard worker, Daenerys spent hours everyday training. He knew that her muscles were sore, but she still continued her training, just as determined. Jae wanted to offer to massage her sore muscles, but considering how annoyed she was with him these days, she would have probably thrown him overboard if he offered.

As if his thoughts summoned her, Dany appeared there too, stopping when she saw him and giving him the usual narrow-eyed look and looking between him and Arya.

“Have a seat, Dany,” he said with a sigh, pointing towards the bench he was sitting on.

She seemed to think about it for a few heartbeats, then decided to sit. As far from him as possible. And it looked like she made a point to never look in his direction.

The silence was heavy between them, so he decided to break it: “Arthur tells me that Arya is the spitting image of my mother, both in looks and in character.” She showed no sign of hearing him or that she wanted to say anything so he just decided to continue: “I come to see her training when I have time because I like to imagine how my mother would have looked when she was her age, training in Winterfell maybe.”

This seemed to have captured her attention for some reason, she turned sharply towards him, her eyes wide: “That’s why you always watch her train with that wistful look in your eyes and that smile on your face?” she asked a little uncertain, searching his eyes for something. For what, he didn't know.

Jaehaerys just nodded and gave her a soft smile.

A huge real smile split her face and made him dizzy. Others take him, how he missed her smiles! She even came closer to him. He had no idea what he said or did to make her not be angry at him anymore, but the relief he felt was embarrassing.

Jaehaerys would never understand women. Maybe it’s time to swallow his pride and ask for some advice before he fucked it up again. Time for the last resort. He cringed just by thinking of it.

He noticed her rubbing her hands together. There was a jar of salve on the bench, probably Arya’s.

“Do your palms hurt?” he asked in a low, uncertain voice, afraid not to scare her away.

She looked at him with her bright violet eyes and just nodded, the walls she built against him in the last days were all gone, to Jae’s immense relief.

He took her small hands in his and slowly applied salve on her palms. When he looked up, he noticed that her eyes were brighter than usual and they were focused on him, not on their hands. He saw something there that he couldn’t describe, something that made his heart flip. Jaehaerys vowed to do anything in his power not to mess this up again.

“You two should go and get yourself a cabin.” Arya, who seemed to have finished her training, said with exaggerated fake disgust.

“Did you finish your training, Lady Stark?” he asked, knowing that there were few things she hated more than being called a Lady.

“Fuck off!” came the expected response, and Arya turned around and left. Dany couldn’t stop her giggles.

“That’s _'Fuck off, Your Grace'_ to you, Lady Stark!” he yelled after her.

They could hear her load groan even over Dany’s loud, tinkling laugh.

 

* * *

 

He was in the cabin he claimed as his office. It was a small cabin, with only a desk, two chairs bolted to the floor and a man-sized looking glass in it. He was surprised to see the looking glass here at first, but he decided to keep it anyway, he supposed it was some kind of changing room before they made it into his office. The main reason he chose this room was that it had the biggest window from all the cabins, so it allowed enough light to read and write most of the day. It was only him and Ghost, who was sprawled next to him, behind his desk.

Jae was waiting anxiously for Ser Oswell to come. This was probably going to be the most uncomfortable talk he ever had.

“Come in,” he said after he heard the dreaded knock.

Ser Oswell stepped in. “You asked to see me, My King?”

“Yes, yes, take a seat, Ser,” he said.

“Kingsguard always stands, Your Grace,” he answered. “What can I do for you?”

He didn’t know how to start this talk, so he just spouted the first thing that came through his head: “You are a man, Ser Oswell, right?”

The Knight looked stunned for a heartbeat there, but he recovered just as fast. “That’s what my wife seems to think, My King.” A gleam appeared in his eyes, to Jae’s chagrin.

“Good, good, that’s what I wanted to talk about...” he managed to stupidly say.

Oswell could barely contain his smirk now. “Do you seek confirmation from my wife that you are a man, Your Grace?” he asked in the most innocent tone possible.

_Curse him, he’s not going to make this easy!_

“No, no, of course not,” he quickly denied it, to Oswell’s amusement. “I mean, you are married...”

“Indeed, My King, you need to get married to have a wife...” he didn’t even bother to conceal his smirk now.

_Others take his eyes!_

“No, what I meant to ask was how does one woo a woman?” Jae said, his awkwardness replaced with annoyance now.

The Knight released a snort that he poorly tried to cover with a cough. “Did one of the servant girls caught your eye, My King?” the Ser said, with poorly faked curiosity. “You know, you are their King, you just have to ask, there is no need to bother wooing them. Most of them are quite fond of this brooding pretty boy look you have going on...” Ser Oswell was the picture of innocence now.

But Jae had enough. “You know, Ser, after visiting the Sealord in Braavos and seeing how much interest Ghost drew, I realized that they might be people who are obsessed with very rare animals, that might try to steal him.” Oswell was no longer smirking now. The King continued: “We can’t risk that, of course.” He pointed at him, with his brows raised expectedly.

“Of course,” said the Knight in a high pitched voice, after a nervous swallow.

“And, of course,” Jae continued, “I told myself, with Ghost being a part of me, it’s only normal to have the Kingsguards guard him too.” Ghost chose this time to get up from behind the desk and Ser Oswell’s face went so white that it matched the great wolf’s fur. In his glee, the Knight must have missed the fact that he was here.

Jaehaerys decide to beat the iron while it’s hot: “Now, everybody knows that Ser Arthur is attached to me like a leech so that only leaves one man - my fearless Batman.” Ghost was standing now face to face with Oswell, who was sweating like a pig.

“Ok, ok, you made your point, Your Grace!” the Knight said in a panicked voice. _So much for the fearless Batman..._ “I think the Princess finished her training, maybe you can let Ghost go to her so we can continue our previous discussion,” he whimpered.

“Go.” Jae said to the wolf who ran out of the door.

The Knight relief was hilarious, but Jae couldn’t blame him for being afraid, Ghost had that effect on people. He felt a little guilty for taking it so far, but Oswell was looking for it.

Jae gave the Knight a few moments to pull himself together then said, trying to lighten the mood: “The reason why I asked you, my good Ser, is that you managed to convince that wonderful woman to marry you with that ugly mug of yours, so I figured you must be some kind of Wooing God.”

The Knight's grin was back of his face: “You are not wrong there, My King, I could charm the pants off every woman within five miles!” Jae rolled his eyes. "If I wasn't a married man, that is," Oswell added hastily and then he said in a serious voice: “I see how you look at her, Your Grace, like she’s the most wonderful thing you ever saw.” the Knight thought a little, perhaps thinking how to explain: “Just be honest with her, and maybe tell her how she looks through your eyes.”

“Well, you are right, she is the most wonderful thing I ever saw.” He wasn’t sure if he said that out loud or not, or if he wanted to. “Thank you for your advice, it was surprisingly helpful.” Jae gave the Knight a pointed look: “…once I managed to squeeze it out of you.”

“That was not nice, My King. And totally against the Ten Foot Rule, might I add.”

“You broke your own rule, Ser, Ghost was already in the cabin when you came in,” he said matter-of-factly.

 

A few moments after Oswell left, Arthur came in: “My King” he gave a bow. “I walked past Ser Oswell when I came in, he looked like he has seen a ghost,” he said with his usually stoic face, but the mirth was unmistakable in his eyes.

“Was that a joke, Arthur? Careful, good Ser, if I tell people you have a sense of humor, they will think me as mad as my grandfather Aerys,” the King said and Arthur gave a small snort. “Did our scouting ships come back?”

Arthur nodded and gave him a piece of paper: “Here are the news and gossip they managed to gather.”

He looked through the news to see if there was something important and then he saw it.

“Curse him!” at Arthur’s questioning look he gave him the paper. After he waited for Arthur to catch up, he said: “We should have killed him when we had the chance.”

“He is an idiot, My King, but he’s still your blood,” Arthur reminded him. "I’m surprised Altheea married him without the Dothraki,” he said.

“He still strengthens Altheea’s claim,” Jaehaerys pointed out. “They might start the invasion on Westeros sooner than we anticipated.”

Jaehaerys groaned. This bad news, they were years away from going home. There was nothing they could do against her now. “How is Dany’s training going?” he asked after a short pause.

“Very well, My King, she’s a very fast learner,” Arthur answered and gave him a pointed look. “She even does well with Ser Oswell’s neck punching and groin kicking training,” the Knight said with glee.

Jaehaerys snorted. “That sounds like something Ser Oswell would teach. It doesn’t hurt her learning it, I guess,” he conceded.

“Are you sure she’s unburnt?”

“Yes, and I think Agnion is already responding to her strong emotions. But we’ll know for sure when we dock and she can meet the Dragon properly,” he said rubbing his chin.

Arthur only nodded.

“Summon her if she’s available, I must tell her about her brother’s wedding,” Jae said with a sigh.

“Of course, My King!” Arthur nodded and left.

 

It didn’t take long for Dany to come, Ghost trailing after her.

She looked worried. “Is everything ok, Jae?”

“Everything’s fine, Dany, have a seat.” She sat on one of the chairs, Ghost taking his usual place with his head in her lap. It always warmed his heart seeing these two getting along so well. Jaehaerys got up from his desk and stood in front of her. “Our scouting ships are back from Lorath with news from the mainland.” Jae gave her the paper and waited patiently for her to read.

“He married the Blackfyre,” she said with a frown. “Why would she marry him without the Dothraki?” she asked. “She needs him to strengthen her claim,” she answered her own question. Dany read more: “It says here that she is considered the most beautiful woman in the world.” Jaehaerys gave a loud snort that got her attention and curiosity “Do you know her?” Dany asked confused.

“No, but I know for sure that she isn’t the most beautiful woman in the world.” Seeing her furrowing brow he took a deep breath and continued: “I have already met the most beautiful woman in the world.”

She looked down and asked in a low voice: “Who is she?”

He held out his hand for her to take it. “Come, let me show you.” She seemed surprised by his request, but she put her small hand into his and he tried to help her up. Ghost wouldn’t have any of it, though, and he was refusing to move his head from her lap, making Dany giggle.

“Let her go, you oaf! Find your own woman!” Ghost finally let her go after giving him a disgusted huff. Only when he saw the blush in Daenerys’ cheeks he realized what he said.

_Way to go, idiot!_

He guided her in front of the looking glass. Standing behind her, his hands resting on her hips, he looked straight into her eyes through the mirror and he said: “Let me tell you about the most beautiful woman in the world...

“She is only a sip of a girl, but her shadow could cover the world. She has long silver hair, that glows like the moon on a cloudless night. She has pink plumped lips that mesmerize me every time she speaks. She has a face so beautiful that would make even a Goddess envious. And she has these big beautiful light violet eyes that make me weak in the knees every time I look into them, I can’t decide when I like them best - when they sparkle with happiness or when they flare with anger.” He was a little worried when he noticed her eyes starting to get watery.

_That’s what I get for listening to the fucking Batman!_

He continued anyway: “And you know what I like the most about her?” She shook her head, her beautiful eyes glowing like Rainbow Diamonds now. “Her big heart. She has the biggest, kindest heart I ever saw. She wants to help everybody, even those who don’t deserve it, and she makes everyone happy around her. Rumor has it that she even made the grim King laugh, but I doubt it, everybody knows that that fucker doesn’t know how to laugh.”

Jaehaerys thought he heard a quiet chuckle, but he must have imagined it because she was looking down now.

“My people only know her for a few weeks now, and they already like her better than me. I even have to fight with Ghost for her attention.”

When Dany said nothing for some time, Jaehaerys was sure he messed it up again and he was thinking if it was better to throw Oswell overboard or to feed him to Ghost, when he felt her push her back deeper into his chest, he wrapped his hands over her stomach and hold her tightly. Then he saw her look up with shiny eyes glowing with happiness and she asked in a quiet, uncertain voice: “Do you really think I’m beautiful? Viserys always said that I am just a short, ugly girl that nobody wants."

He somehow swallowed his anger and managed to give her a big smile instead: “If Lady Mella wouldn’t have started talking when we met, we would be still Pentos now, I would still be looking at you like a mooncalf and you would still be thinking _'What in the Seven Hells is wrong with this idiot?'_ Or maybe I would have passed out, from not being able to breathe.

“You take my breath away, Dany.”


	8. When hope returns

 

#### 

THE OLD KNIGHT – BRAAVOS

 

He was too old for this shit. 

He should have been long dead, like his brothers. If the Gods were good they would have given him an honorable death at the Trident and these last 20 years of his life wouldn’t have happened. He should have been in the Seven Heavens with his brothers. His true brothers, not these useless wankers that wore the White Cloak these days. He should have been sparring with Ser Arthur Dayne. He should have been sharing tales with Ser Gerold Hightower. He should have been laughing at Ser Oswell Whent’s jokes. He should have been listening to Prince Lewyn’s advice. He should have been enchanted by Prince Rhaegar harp.

But, no, the Gods hated him and cursed him and left him alive to serve shit Kings, as always. Kings that burned people alive, that beat and raped their wives. Kings that were only interested in fucking, drinking and hunting. Kings that liked to beat little girls and torture people.

Even Viserys turned out to be a disappointment and Barristan hasn’t even met him yet. But the way people talked about him in Pentos didn’t fill him with the confidence that the Seven Kingdoms would finally have a good King.

When he was released from the Kingsguard by the boy King Joffrey, he was seething at first. He gave his life to the Kingsguard and this boy came and threw him out. But his rage was quickly subdued when he realized that it was a good opportunity to do what he should have done 20 years ago, seek and serve his true King.

So he traveled to Pentos where King Viserys and Princess Daenerys were last seen. Only to find out that Viserys was in Myr, and he married a Blackfyre pretender.

Again, one of his heroic deeds came back to bite him on his ass, just like the Defiance of Duskendale, where he saved a King and doomed a Kingdom. He was the one who slew the last Blackfyre pretender at the Stepstones, Maelys the Monstrous, and now the true King married his granddaughter. There was no way he could offer his services without losing his head.

Just when Barristan was considering taking a different name and joining some sellsword company so he could at least earn himself an honorable death in battle, the story of Princess Daenerys and the so-called Targaryen King reached his ears.

He knew for sure that that King wasn’t a Targaryen, the only marriage outside of the family in 3 generations that Targaryens made was Prince Rhaegar’s marriage to Elia Martell, and their son was dead. Even if by some miracle that boy would have escaped, it wasn’t him because the child had silver hair.

But it didn’t matter who this Targaryen pretender was, Princess Daenerys was with him, and she was a true Targaryen that he could serve and die for.

He tried to get some more information but he only got some ridiculous stories, like this King had a white dog as big as a horse with burning eyes, some even said that they saw a red Dragon burning down some Magister’s manse. He scoffed just by thinking of it.

But he also learned that they sailed for Braavos, so here he was. 

He was looking for an inn to get some information when a group of barefooted children ran past him. He looked at them amused, the youngest was a little girl with golden hair and big blue eyes that was surely no more than five name days while the oldest child might have been nine or ten.

“Let’s play The Dragons and The Dothraki!” he heard one child yell and saw them split into two groups, around half a dozen children in each group. Most of them armed themselves with sticks. Barristan found himself intrigued by this game.

“I am the Winter King!” one small boy with a stick in his hand screamed.

“I am the Batman!” screamed another, the old Knight couldn’t help but chuckle. He knew a Batman once.

“I am the Sword of the Morning!” declared a taller child, to Barristan’s shock. How did these children know of a man long gone?

The little girl pulled the tallest child’s hand and asked in a shy voice: “Brother, can I be Queen Daenerys?”

The tall child gave her a big grin: “Of course, little one!” he said. “And I shall be the red Dragon, you can ride me!” he said excitedly. He bent down to allow the little girl on his back then started running around causing the girl to scream and giggle.

“Dawn shall strike you down, savages!” yelled the boy pretending to be Arthur. Then a group, who Barristan guessed were pretending to be Dothraki, ran towards the other group who pretended to defend with their sticks, the little girl on the back of her brother pretending to be Daenerys riding a Dragon was screaming “Dracarys! Dracarys! Dracarys!” between giggles.

When the children took a break from their playing, Barristan approached the boy pretending to be Arthur: “Lad, how did you hear about The Sword of the Morning”?

The boy looked offended. “He stopped to talk to us one morning,” the others around him all nodded their heads. “He even showed us his sword,” he told him excitedly. “I never saw such a sword, white as milk. Do you know it was made from one of the stars that we see at night in the sky?”

Barristan’s heart was beating out of his chest now, last time he was so excited was probably during the Rebellion. “Is he still here? Can you take me to him?” he asked in a voice that he didn’t recognize.

“Oh, they left.” the boy said. He must have seen the disappointment on his face because he continued: “They stayed at the Golden Cock,” he told him, pointing to an inn with a big golden rooster sign hanging over its double wooden doors. “Maybe they know where they went.”

He gave the boy a coin, which earned him a huge smile in return and started walking determinedly towards the inn.

Could it really be true? Could Arthur be alive? He just realized that one of the children pretended to be the Batman. Oswell? Could he be alive too? The thought of them being alive was overwhelming.

He always wondered what happened to them. Arthur, Oswell, and Gerold were all missing. Everybody just assumed that they were slain in one of the many battles of the Rebellion. He thought that maybe some Essossi sellsword took Dawn because there was no way that anybody in Westeros could wield that sword without being recognized. It was one of the best swords ever made, and everybody knew it, it was said to be even better than Valyrian Steel.

It didn’t matter anyway, he would find information at the inn and he would follow them to the end of the world and, if the Princess would let him, he would serve her and maybe even die for her, if he was lucky.

The Gods owed him at least this much.

 

* * *

 

#### 

THE SILENT SISTER – KING’S LANDING

 

She and her sisters silently moved single file through the people of King’s Landing, making their way to the Iron Gate. Their destination was a small inn called ‘The Drunken Clam’ where they were called to attend a small lord from the Riverlands who lost his life in one of the countless skirmishes from this part of King’s Landing.

She was the one leading the line throughout the busy streets, as per her status. How many years since she joined, she wondered? How many years since she heard the sound of her own voice? There must be at least twenty… Although it was hard to tell, time tended to lose meaning when one's life was only dedicated to prayer and contemplation.

She remembered walking these streets before becoming a silent sister, and unlike now, when she was shrouded in grey robes that that only left her eyes uncovered, then she was draped in the best silks, and instead of the death cart they were dragging behind them now, then she had a large wagon filled with food. 

Unfortunately the time passed hasn’t changed this part of town for the better, it actually grew worse. The smell of piss and sweat and rotten fish became almost unbearable. With no one to care for them, the people around grew poorer, sicker, hungrier, the streets became more crowded, so crowded that it was dangerous for most people to walk around unattended. 

Luckily, the grey robes of the silent sisters still made people wary, even the worst of the worst were afraid of upsetting the gods. They were considered the Stranger's wives, after all, so people made way for them everywhere they went, wary of touching them, wary of getting noticed. 

They walked for a few more minutes, dodging excrements and drunks until they finally reached their destination – the Drunken Clam inn.

It was a large wooden building, with a wide entrance that had no door and was covered with a dirty red curtain. Above the entrance there was a rotten wooden sign, that had a badly painted circle with a couple of much smaller circles inside it, that she could only assume was meant to look like a clam with eyes. She could also make out some letters, an N and an M amongst them, most of the others washed away by rain and time. 

As soon as they entered the inn, a plump blonde woman, with a flat nose and missing front teeth welcomed them warily and led them to a small room in the back. 

There, on two small tables joined together, was a young man with red hair and lifeless blue eyes. The silent sister could see the cause of his death, half of dozen knife holes in his belly. It always saddened her to see young people losing their lives for nothing.

They spent a few minutes silently praying for the poor man’s soul before they got to work. As summer was over now, they would remove his bowels and organs and stuff his body with salts and herbs that would help it hold until it reached his family in the Riverlands. 

As they were working silently, she heard loud cheers from the main room. 

“Slabhead!” one of the men yelled. “You finally be back!”

“Fuck yer shitheads!” a man with a whistling voice answered. “I be here for some peace and quiet and yous cunts yell in me ears!”

“Feck off, yer little big-headed shitbag!” another man yelled. “Yer had enough of that on the seas!”

The man with the whistling voice laughed at that. “That be true! The seas is always kind to me ears!”

“What’s new in Braavos, Slabhead?” another man asked, this one sounded like a highborn, or at least like a man who knew his letters.

“Har! I have a story for yous! Buy old Slabhead some of that piss yous call ale and I tell!” the whistling man roared.

“Piss off, yer shit! Last time you had a good story yous told us yous fucked a siren with teats larger than yer head!” another man said, making the others laugh.

“Har! This one is real! I swear it on me mum’s eyes!” Whistling Voice answered. 

“There you go, Slabhead!” the silent sister heard the woman who led them to the dead body say. “I am tired of hearing the same stories every day, even one of yous lies is better.”

“Tis no lie, sweet arse!” Slabhead sounded affronted now. “I’ve seen me a Dragon.”

This caused the room to start roaring in laughter. The man tried to speak again, but it was almost impossible to make himself heard over the noise. 

It took minutes for the laughter to stop. 

“Tis no lie, yer shits!” Whistling Voice insisted. “The beast flew past me head, and almost took me hat off!”

Another round of laughter filled the inn. 

“Yous gonna see! Many thousand men seen the beast!” _If only that was true,_ the silent sister thought. But the man likely lost his wits on the sea. “Yous gonna see! Yous gonna come to old Slabhead and buy him ale when the Targaryens come with their Dragons!”

The silent sister startled when she heard that name spoken out loud. It never left her thoughts, but it’s been many years since she heard it from someone’s lips.

“Have you lost your wits, Slabhead? Somebody might hear you and remove that big head of yours from your shoulders!” the man who she thought was highborn spoke.

“On me mum’s eyes!” the man swore again. “Tis no joke! I seen them with me own eyes like I see all of yous! Two Targaryens old Slabhead has seen. One fair and one dark, I swear it!”

“It’s true,” a deep voice spoke, one that the sister hasn’t heard before. “I came from Braavos too, everyone there saw them.” That silenced the crowd and made her stop breathing. Her sisters looked at her, wondering why she stopped working, but she couldn’t move, she couldn’t even breath, her heart was pounding in her ears.

“King Jaehaerys and Queen Daenerys, they called themselves,” the man with the deep voice continued.

Daenerys?

 

_”If he’s a boy I will name him Aemon, if she’s a girl, her name will be Daenerys.”_

_“Of course, Your Grace.”_

_“My children’s safety is paramount, Ser Willem. As soon as the child is born take the bebe and Viserys and get them to safety.”_

_“But, My Queen, what about you? You won’t be able to travel so soon.”_

_“I don’t think I will make it, Ser, I am too weak. The safety of my children is the most important thing right now, they are the future of our house. Protect them, no matter what! That’s an order!”_

 

“I remember when I was young and lived on these streets, Queen Rhaella often came around these parts to feed the poor,” Deep Voice spoke again, “and that girl in Braavos looks just like her. I don’t know who she is but she is a Targaryen for sure.”

 

Later that night, when her chores for the day were done and it was her turn to use the small room that she and her sisters used to wash away the grime of the day, she looked at the dirty looking-glass hanging on the wall, and there she saw a light in her violet eyes that she hasn’t seen in a very long time.

It was hope.


	9. Oaths and promises

 

#### 

THE KINGSLAYER - KING'S LANDING

 

_The fat Dothraki put aside his knife to unsheathe a huge curved arakh, the wickedly sharp scythesword the horselords loved._

_They mean to scare me. The fool hopped on Jaime's back, giggling, as the Dothraki swaggered toward him. The goat wants me to piss my breeches and beg his mercy, but he'll never have that pleasure. He was a Lannister of Casterly Rock, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard; no sellsword would make him scream._

_Sunlight ran silver along the edge of the arakh as it came shivering down, almost too fast to see._

 

And Jaime screamed.

Panic filled him, his rapid shallow breathing could barely fill his lungs with air. He looked at his right hand. His little finger missing, but the hand was still there.

It was a dream, just a dream. He opened and closed his fist, burying his fingernails in his palm in the process, just to fell, to make sure it was still there and that it was only a nightmare.

After he finally got his breathing under control, he got up in a sitting position and poured himself some water, his throat felt drier than the Dornish deserts.

Thank the Gods for Brienne. If she didn’t throw herself into the Dothraki, he would have been a handless Jaime Lannister, not only a fingerless Jaime, like he was now.

And what was Jamie Lannister without his sword hand? Nothing, he was nothing without his sword hand.

This troubled him lately. Is that all he was?

A pretty boy that was good with a sword?

A man that few liked and even fewer respected?

A man that was given fake smiles when people had his attention, and snickers when he wasn’t looking?

A man that was called Ser Jaime to his face and Kingslayer behind his back?

 

He couldn’t help thinking back at the time when the court came to Castely Rock after the death of his grandfather, he must have been no more than ten name days then, it was the first time he laid his eyes on the Kingsguard. He still remembered the awe he felt standing in front of Ser Gerold Hightower, Ser Barristan the Bold, Prince Lewyn Martell, Ser Oswell Whent and his favorite Ser Arthur Dayne.

Aerys must have been one of the shittiest Kings in Targaryen history, but that Kingsguard was one of the best ever assembled.

His father wanted to groom him as the Lord of Castely Rock, but Jaime knew then when looking at those men that being a Kingsguard was what he wanted to do. He was to be a fighter, a Knight, someone to serve and protect the weak, not some fucking Lord sitting on his arse all day.

When he told the Knights that he wanted to join them, they all laughed, saying that Tywin would rather cut off one of his hands that let his heir join the Kingsguard.

His disappointment was great until Ser Oswell told him that if he took good care of his horse, he will hide him in a sack and smuggle him out of Castely Rock with the food carts, without his father knowing.

Jaime still chuckled every time he remembered that. Fucking Oswell! Never has been a horse more loved and cared for than Oswell’s brown steed during the court’s stay at The Rock.

 

A year after that Tywin sent him to squire for Lord Sumner Crakehall.

After 4 years as Lord Sumner’s squire, he finally got his chance for greatness when the Kingsguard was called to dispose of a band of bandits called the Kingswood Brotherhood. One of those men was what Jaime liked to call his youth’s Gregor Clegane - the Smiling Knight, they called him. He wasn’t as big as Ser Gregor, but he was twice as mad, and one of the best swordsmen Jaime ever met.

To everyone's surprise, the young Jaime managed to hold his own against the Smiling Knight that day, before Ser Arthur came and slain him.

He was knighted right there on the battlefield by his hero, Ser Arthur. I was the best day of Jaime’s life.

Jaime thanked the Gods that Arthur was not alive to see what he became, he probably won’t say much, as was his wont, but to see disappointment in his eyes would crush Jaime.

Arthur always stood up for him, The Sword of the Morning even defended him when his new brothers of the Kingsguard claimed that Jaime was too young, too green, and how did he repay him? He dreamed of becoming Ser Arthur Dayne, and somewhere along the way, he became the Smiling Knight.

 

After becoming a Knight, Jaime traveled to King”s Landing to see his sister. There Cersei told him that his father intended to marry him to Lysa Tully and proposed that he should join the Kingsguard to escape from that marriage. Jaime wasn’t sure, as it was obvious that Tywin would not approve, but after a night of passionate fucking, he gave his consent.

Now that he thought about it, Jaime took a lot of important decisions after fucking Cersei. No wonder everybody called him the stupidest Lannister. At that time he thought that Cersei proposed him to join the Kingsguard because she knew he didn’t want to marry Lysa and she cared about his happiness, but now he realized that she just didn’t want to share her toy with someone else and wanted to keep her lapdog close.

 _Cersei… When did all go wrong?_ he thought with a sigh. When did his love for her change from the purest thing in his life to a poison that was slowly rotting away his soul?

Maybe it was when he agreed to join the Kingsguard? Or maybe when he slit Aerys’ throat? Or perhaps when he continued his affair with Cersei even after she married? Or was it when he pushed that little boy from the tower after he caught them fucking?

Whenever it was, he should have gotten out sooner. He always saw Cersei as his biggest gift, but the truth was that she was his curse. What could he do, you don’t get to choose who you love… Couldn’t he fall in love with a nice, good woman, like normal people? 

Big beautiful blue eyes were instantly on his mind.

_Get it together, Jaime!_

 

He couldn’t help thinking how different Cersei and Brienne were, though. Like night and day.

One was the most beautiful and graceful woman he ever saw, the other one was big and awkward.

One had cold, calculating green eyes, the other had big, kind, beautiful blue eyes.

One was selfish and uncaring, the other was kind and honorable. 

One was beautiful on the outside but rotten on the inside, the other wasn’t much to look at, but she had the most beautiful and kind heart.

 

Jaime couldn’t help thinking that this new way of seeing things was not only because he almost lost his hand. A big part of his change were his countless discussions with Brienne. They had a lot of time to fill only with each other’s company in the dungeons of Harrenhal before Ser Gregor came and freed them.

He found himself telling her things he never told anyone, Jaime expected her to be disgusted with him, but she wasn’t, for some reason she was confident that there still was good in him. Jaime thought she was mad for sure, all that time in captivity finally got to her head. He even told her that, but her answer was that even if some mistakes can never be fixed or forgiven, he can at least make sure that he will do better in the future and won’t make those mistakes again.

Could it be true? Could an empty carcass like him actually do some good for a change?

Jaime couldn’t deny that Brienne also reminded him what a true Knight should be like. Somewhere along the road he lost his way, but lately, he found himself overwhelmed by memories of things that he has long forgotten, things that meant the world to him at one time, but he hasn’t given them a thought in countless years. He remembered Arthur’s sense of duty and justice, he remembered the White Bull’s wisdom, he remembered Oswell’s sense of humor and he remembered of Prince Rhaegar’s kindness.

That was the true age of Knights. Today... he couldn’t even think of a Knight that he could admire after the Rebellion, himself included. Being a Knight meant nothing these days.

Even the great Ser Barristan, who was always acting all high and mighty, was probably the most soiled of them all. Everything Barristan had was because of the Targaryens, and he couldn’t bend the knee fast enough to Robert, a man who was delighted with the butchering of the royal children. Even his nickname “The Bold” was given to him by Prince Duncan himself when the Knight was nothing but a child. And he stood there in the small council meetings, guarding Robert while he ordered the assassination of Prince Viserys and Princess Daenerys.

 

Thinking of the Targaryens inevitably made him think about his life’s defining moment. The day when he slit Aerys’ throat.

It was one of life's biggest ironies in life - greatest deed brought him the scorn of an entire realm.

He still had nightmares from that day. _Burn them all! Burn them all! Burn them all!_ In his nightmares, he’s always too slow and they always ended surrounded by green fire.

Even these days, after almost 20 years, Jaime could still see the people on the streets of King’s Landing looking at him disgusted. He supposed it was because Robert was such a shit king, Aerys might have been mad as a box of frogs and liked to burn people alive for sport, but at least the realm’s coffers were flooding with gold and the people were well fed.

The funny thing was that they hated him for saving their lives. If he wouldn’t have killed Aerys, he would have wiped King’s Landing from the map and all its people with it.

 

He found it funny at first, people hating him for saving them, it was like an inner joke, but it quickly got old and started chipping his armor bit by bit, so he did the only thing he knew, he locked himself inside and didn’t pay attention to what others thought and said about him. He had a lot of practice with keeping things out of his head, after being forced to watch Aerys’ countless executions by fire.

The worst thing was that somewhere along the way he started caring so little, that he actually became the man everyone else thought he was.

Not for the first time he thought if it wouldn’t have been better to tell people why he did it… But it was unlikely to change people’s opinion. He saw the accusation and disgust in Eddard Stark’s eyes when he first came into the throne room. Also, with his father sacking the city and butchering the royal children, nobody would have believed him anyway.

 

The royal children… While killing Aerys was his grandest deed, failing to protect Rhaenys and Aegon was his biggest failure. That was the only thing Rhaegar ever asked of him and he failed.

At least Armory Lorch is now dead by the bear that tried to kill Brienne, and Gregor Clegane is close to meeting his Gods, after being poisoned by Oberyn.

Jaime got up and started to dress, he wanted to go and spend some time with Brienne, like he did every day. After Harrenhal, she became an important part of his life.

He could see that she was getting more agitated every day, she wanted to leave and find the Stark girls like she promised Lady Catelyn, and Jaime was running out of excuses to keep her here.

Jaime wouldn’t admit it to anyone but he was afraid, he was afraid that when Brienne left he would lose himself again and he wanted to hold on to this newfound goodness with all he had. And Brienne was his anchor, she was the one who brought the best out of him, she was the one who reminded him every day how a true Knight should be.

But he couldn’t stand in her way, he knew that he needed to let her go for her to do her duty. He truly hoped she could find Sansa and Arya.

They were both shocked when they found out about the Red Wedding. That was the most disgusting thing Jaime ever heard. War was always bloody and nobody knew that better than Jaime, but to kill your allies under guest rights at a wedding, that was unheard of. Guest rights stood for thousands of years and they helped countless wars to end without spilling more blood than necessary, and his father and his allies destroyed all that. Nobody would be trusting guest rights anymore after what happened at the Twins.

He supposed that the Gods paid his father in full for that, being killed on the privy by his least favorite person in the world, his son Tyrion.

Jaime didn’t know what to think about all that, he was still his father after all and he couldn’t help feeling betrayed by Tyrion. Although Tyrion’s betrayal was nothing to his.

He hoped that Brienne could find the girls and keep them safe, now that they didn’t have anywhere to go. Maybe she could bring them to the Wall to their father, he was their last living family, after all, but the Wall was no place for young girls.

Anyway, she must find them first, Brienne was spending her days asking people around King’s Landing and the docks about the girls. No success so far, Jaime suspected that at least the younger girl, Arya, was dead, as she hasn’t been seen in years. Although there was a mummery in play, where some northern girl was sent to the Boltons, pretending she was Arya Stark.

Jaime hoped that he was wrong, but the truth was that there was a high chance that both of them were dead.

 

When he got up to leave, a servant appeared at the door: “Ser Jaime, the Queen requests your presence in the throne room.”

Jaime couldn’t hide his frustration. Instead of spending a nice quiet morning with Brienne, he is forced to spend it with Cersei, listening to whatever imaginary plots she would think of now.

After Joffrey's and their father’s death, and Tyrion’s escape, she was getting more and more paranoid every day. In a way, she reminded him of the Mad King. You could rarely see Cersei without a glass of wine in her hand these days.

 

* * *

 

When he got to the throne room, the usual hangers were already there and his sister was sitting on the throne, acting as Tommen’s regent.

There were two men in the middle of the hall dressed like Braavosi merchants.

“You can share your information with us, now that Ser Jaime is here,” Cersei ordered.

One of them started speaking: “I am Argilac of Myr, Your Grace. I come with news from Essoss, where Queen Altheea Blackfire sacked Myr, Tyrosh, and Lys. She also controls the Disputed Lands.” He took a deep breath and continued: “Rumor is that she is hiring every sellsword available and she's planning to invade Westeros. She recently married Viserys Targaryen who has the same ambition as her. Everyone in Myr heard him say that he will burn alive every one of Usurper’s dogs when he returns to Westeros.”

Jaime couldn’t help but flinch, Viserys sounded just like his father. A madman.

Cersei laughed “A pretender whore and a madman, let them try!”

He heard Randyll Tarly’s grave voice: “This might work well for us, Your Grace. Sunspear is the closest to their location and it’s very likely that their possible invasion might start there, so both of our enemies will weaken themselves.”

Cersei seemed pleased with this information “Good, good, then we shall wait for them to kill each other and kill whoever is left.”

“What about you?” the Queen regent looked at the other man.

“I come from Braavos, Your Grace, and also have information that might interest you.” the man said.

“Speak, and if the information will be good, you shall be handsomely rewarded” Cersei ordered.

“Of course, Your Grace!” the man gave a smile ”A few moons back a Targaryen fleet docked in Braavos”

This got Jaime’s attention “A fleet, you say?”

“Yes, My Lord, there were over 50 ships.” Jaime was surprised now. If Viserys already had a big army and allied himself with Altheea, the invasion was coming sooner than they thought.

“What was Viserys doing in Braavos?” Jaime asked, pointing to the other man “This man here just said that he was in Myr, married to the Blackfire.”

The man from Braavos cleared his throat: “It wasn’t Viserys, My Lord. They called themselves King Jaehaerys and Queen Daenerys.” _Daenerys? That was Viserys sister. But who was this Jaehaerys?_

Lord Tarly must have thought the same thing “We heard of Daenerys, but never of this Jaehaerys, who is he?” he asked curiously.

“He’s a Targaryen, although he had dark hair. The commoners call him the King of Winter,” the man answered.

Cersei snorted: “King of Winter? The Kings of Winter are gone for a long time. There is no Targaryen with dark hair.”

The man looked a bit uncertain: “He’s a Targaryen alright, who else would have Dragons?”

Loud gasps were heard all around the throne room. Followed by laughs and snorts.

Mace Tyrell was the one who talked: “Surely you jest, My Lord.”

“I do not jest, My Lord, I saw him myself, bright red with burning eyes, flew just over my head, so close that I felt his heat.” Mace Tyrell was left speechless, so the man continued: “As many as a thousand people also saw another Dragon - this one made of ice - that destroyed half of the House of Black and White, the assassin cult,” he stopped to swallow “This King is no joking matter, My Lord.”

Jaime was gaping like a fish, this was not good, if this Jaehaerys was allied with Viserys and the Blackfire they would be hard to stop, maybe even impossible if they truly had dragons.

It was Jaime's turn to ask: “Why did they destroy the House of Black and White, they don’t seem like people that you would want as your enemies?”

“To release his cousin, who was serving the Many-Faced God. They serve for life.”

“Cousin? Who is this cousin, another fucking Targaryen? They spring up like mushrooms after the rain these days!” Cersei asked lividly.

“No, Your Grace, I heard her say that her name was Arya Stark.” Gasps were heard all over the throne room, people started talking over each other, you couldn’t understand anything.

“Lies!” one Lord Jaime couldn’t recognize said. “Arya Stark is in the North, married to the Lord of Winterfell”

“That’s what the girl said her name was, My Lords, she even looked a little like the Winter King, same hair, and long face.”

Then it hit Jaime like a hammer in the head. Arya was said to be the copy of Lyanna Stark, this King was Lyanna’s a Rhaegar’s son.

_Look after my children, Ser Jaime._

How did the boy survive? Was it possible that he had some of his brothers with him?

“Who else was with them?” he asked breathlessly.

“They had a huge Dothraki guarding him and two Knights in white.” Jaime’s heart leaped into his throat now.

“The Knights, how did they look like?” he asked in a shaky voice.

“One had short dark hair and a helmet with a big black bat on it” It couldn’t be! Oswell! “And the other was tall and blonde, with purple eyes” Jaime was shaking now, “I forgot his name, but they called him The Sword of the Morning.”

Outraged voices were heard all around them: “Lies! Ser Arthur Dayne is long dead!”

Jaime grabbed the Braavosi merchant by his robes: “If you are lying I will open your gut and have you eat your insides, right here in front of everyone!” he growled.

The poor man was white as snow now. “No indeed My Lord, that’s how they called him, he had a great sword like no sword I saw before. With a big ruby pommel and a milky white blade.”

_By the Gods, it was him!_

Everybody was frantic, they must have realized that if Arthur was with him, the boy was legitimate.

“When do you leave back for Braavos?” he asked so that only the sailor could hear him.

“Tomorrow, My Lord.”

“Save me a cabin, I will send payment later,” he said.

The man seemed to have recovered some color in his cheeks, now that he has seen Jaime calm down. “Of course, My Lord.”

He then turned around and left, leaving the throne room into chaos, Jaime thought he heard Cersei screaming after him, but he couldn’t make himself care.

When he exited the throne room he looked left and right, not knowing what to do. He still couldn’t process it all. Alive, at least two of his brothers were alive. Ser Arthur was alive.

And Rhaegar’s son.

_Look after my children, Ser Jaime._

Brienne! He had to tell Brienne!

 

* * *

 

When he got to Brienne’s rooms, he didn’t even bother knocking, he just went straight in. Brienne was looking like she was packing the few things she had.

“What are you doing, wench? Leaving without saying goodbye?” he smirked seeing her startle.

“I need to leave, Jaime! I can’t wait any more time! The longer I wait, the slimmer the chances of finding them are! And I don’t even know where to start!” she said a bit frustrated.

“What would you do without me, wench? I have some information for you, we found Arya!” he gave her a smile.

“Don’t joke with me, Jaime!” she stated exasperatedly.

“No joke, she’s with her cousin in Braavos.” he said with a serious face.

“Her cousin, which cousin?” she asked.

“Rhaegar’s and Lyanna Stark’s son apparently.” he said enjoying the shock on her face.

“I must go to her then, I made an oath!” she said firmly.

He gave her a smile, he always admired her sense of duty. She must have seen the admiration in his eyes because a becoming blush stretched on her face.

“Way ahead of you, wench. I bought you a cabin on a Braavos bound ship, you leave tomorrow morning,” he said with a grin.

“Thank you, Jaime!” she gave him an unexpected hug, which stirred something in his heart, something that he was not ready to think of.

She went red as a lobster after the hug and an awkward silence settled between them.

He pulled a purse of gold and threw it on the table: “For your trip, wench.” When she was about to refuse, he held his hand up: “I also promised Lady Catelyn to help her daughters, this is my way of doing it.”

That seemed to have worked and Brienne accepted the coin.

Then an idea came to him, he unbuckled his sword and gave it to her. She looked at him uncertainly and slowly pulled the sword out of its sheath, her eyes went big as saucers. “This is Valyrian Steel, I can’t take this!” Brienne said, almost panicked. She tried to give the sword back.

Jaime ignored her. “It’s called Oathkeeper, made from the sword of House Stark, Ice. What better use for it is there than to help you keep your oath to the Starks and protect Arya Stark with it?”

She didn’t seem convinced. “You could buy an army with this.”

“It’s made from Stark steel, so it should be used to help the Starks,” he said with finality. 

Brienne still looked uncertain but she must have realized that Jaime won’t budge, so she just gave him a small nod.

“Be at the docks tomorrow morning, the ship will be waiting.” he said and turned to leave.

“Jaime, I...” Brienne said in a quiet voice. He turned surprised by her tone, when he looked at her, the emotion he saw in her sea-blue eyes overwhelmed him. He needed to leave before he would do or say something stupid.

“Don’t get sappy on me, wench!” he said, giving her what he hoped was his usual smirk and left.

 

* * *

 

Jaime was pacing in his rooms for what it felt like hours.

What should he do?

By the Gods, Ser Arthur and Ser Oswell were alive. And they were protecting Rhaegar’s son. Jaime had no doubt the boy was legitimate if Arthur and Oswell were with him.

What should he do?

_Look after my children, Ser Jaime._

And Arya Stark, she was also alive. He promised her mother he would send her home. Although the girl doesn’t have a home anymore.

What should he do?

Brienne was going to Braavos.

_Look after my children, Ser Jaime._

Jaime stopped his pacing and took a deep breath. It was time to act like the man he wanted to be, not like the man people expected him to be.

 

* * *

 

When he reached the King’s rooms, Ser Boros Blunt was sitting outside, guarding. Ser Boros was the perfect example of how low the Kingsguard have fallen. Once filled with the best and most honorable Knights in all the realm, it was now filled with creatures like Boros the Belly. No wonder he was made food taster for the King, the man swallowed everything he could get his hands on.

Jaime gave Blunt a sharp nod and entered the chambers. Tommen was at his desk, drawing.

“Uncle Jaime!” the child's eyes lit up when he saw him.

“How are you, Tommen?” Jaime asked, giving him a true smile. “I need you to place your stamp on this.” He put the papers in front of the young King.

“Of course!” he said happily. Jaime was a bit worried, this kid liked to stamp documents a bit too much.

He saw him frown. “Are you well, Tommen?”

“Do you think I will be a good King, uncle?” the boy asked.

Jaime was surprised by the question. “I think you are a good lad, with a big heart and people will love you for it,” he said.

Tommen seemed pleased with his answer and gave him a big smile. “Thank you, uncle!”

“Take care, my boy.” Jaime gave Tommen a kiss on his forehead and left.

 

* * *

 

The next morning he was at the docks, Widow Wail strapped on his belt. Jaime decided to take it with him, he might as well put it to good use, maybe even give it to Lyanna’s son or to Arya Stark, it belonged to the Starks after all. He needed to change its shitty name first, though.

Brienne was surprised to see him. “What are you doing here, Jaime?”

“I decided to take a trip to Braavos,” he said nonchalantly. “I hear the Titan is quite a sight!”

“But your oath to the Kingsguard...” she said confused.

“I was released from my oaths by King Tommen himself yesterday.” 

Jaime smirked at Brienne's surprised look. “Did you really think that you could get away from me so easily, wench?”


End file.
